DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z December 24, 2009
Southern California/Baja/Gulf of California: Puffs of thin density smoke from agricultural fires burning across extreme southern California (right along the CA-Mexico border) and northeastern Baja moved southward during the late afternoon. The smoke then combined with blowing dust from source regions in northeastern Baja and the resultant combined aerosol spread southward over the northern Gulf of California. Farther to the north, an aerosol of unknown origin and composition was visible moving southward over the Channel Islands and the eastern Pacific just off the southern California coast. The thin aerosol may also extend inland over the Los Angeles Basin though a lack of contrast between the aerosol and the land surface makes detection difficult with visible satellite imagery. It is possible that some of this aerosol may be leftover blowing dust from yesterday's significant event over southern California, southern Arizona, and northern Baja. 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.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/land/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