DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z JUNE 1, 2008
Florida/Gulf of Mexico: A fire just to the southwest of Orlando was emitting a thin to locally moderately dense smoke plume which fanned out both in an westward and eastward direction affecting at least the southwestern portion of the Orlando metro area. The ongoing fire along the western shore of Lake Okeechobee continues to burn and was producing a moderately dense smoke plume which moved in a westward direction. Possible leftover thin smoke from this fire was visible during the day moving slowly to the northwest across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico toward the central Gulf coast region. Lower and Middle Mississippi Valley: A large number of what are believed to be mainly agricultural burns were visible over northeastern Louisiana extending into southeastern Arkansas. Some smoke plumes and patches of thin smoke were observed late in the day moving to the north. The area of possible smoke seen this morning across the region extending from southern Missouri/northern Arkansas to western Kentucky/western Tennessee was no longer visible later in the day. Mexico/Western Texas/New Mexico: A large number of fires and associated smoke plumes were detected across southwestern Mexico. These seasonal fires have been burning for quite some time resulting in a large mass of haze which extends northeastward into southwestern and western Texas as well as southeastern New Mexico. It is unknown how much of this haze is composed of smoke. South Central Canada/North Central US: Possible thin smoke from large fires in Russia along with possible contributions from a couple of fires in western Canada was visible moving to the southeast over portions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces as well as North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and Lake Michigan. Farther to the north, a large fire just northwest of Lake Winnipeg in central Manitoba Province was producing a significant dense smoke plume which moved to the east. Southwestern Canada: A fire in southeastern British Columbia Province in southwestern Canada was responsible for a large dense smoke plume which spread to the east-southeast into southwestern Alberta Province. The convective looking smoke plume appeared to reach very high into the atmosphere and was clearly visible in the infrared GOES satellite channel. California: A moderately dense smoke plume moved quickly to the east toward the CA-NV border from a fire in eastern Tulare County of east central California. Farther to the west, thin to locally moderately dense smoke moved northward from a fire in southwestern Monterey County of west central California. JS