THURSDAY MAY 8, 2009

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z MAY 9, 2009

Western Gulf of Mexico/Southeastern Texas/Southern Louisiana:
Once again, a large mass of thin to possibly moderately dense smoke was
visible moving northward from the Bay of Campeche across the western
Gulf of Mexico and into southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. The
smoke was due to the continuing seasonal fires burning across southeastern
Mexico and Central America. Farther inland, more aerosol could be seen in
visible imagery extending from southern and southwestern Texas to south
central and southeastern Oklahoma. It is possible that some of the smoke
from the Mexico/Central America fires is present in this region as well.

Central to Southern California:
A couple of patches of possible blowing dust could be seen just prior
to sunset across central and south central California. One area was
observed moving southward between Fresno and Bakersfield. The second batch
appeared to be moving more to the east between Chino and Twenty-Nine
Palms. Graphical information concerning the large moderately dense to
dense smoke plume moving primarily to the south from the large wildfire
burning near Santa Barbara can be found on the web sites listed below.

JS


THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER
DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE
PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE:

JPEG:   http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html
GIS:    http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm
KML:    http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html

THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE
WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE
SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO
STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST.

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT
PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov













 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.