DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z May 23, 2010
Arizona/New Mexico/Colorado/Utah/Nebraska: A large area of blowing dust has been kicked up due to strong winds associated with a potent storm system. The blowing dust is emanating from northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico and southwest/central Colorado. The dust is moving quickly to the northeast and extends from northeast Arizona, extreme southeast Utah and northwest New Mexico across Colorado and into the Nebraska Panhandle. Louisiana: Smoke from a fire earlier in the afternoon became detached from the fire in southwest Louisiana and lifted north toward north central Louisiana along the Arkansas border. Southern Plains into northeast Mexico: A large area of aerosol was seen before sunset which stretched from much of northeast Mexico and the western Gulf of Mexico into central and western Texas, much of Oklahoma and the eastern three fourths of Kansas. The composition and source of the aerosol is not certain but is likely a mix of remnant smoke from fires, blowing dust and anthropogenic haze. Southwest Gulf of Mexico: An area of unusually thick smoke was seen in the Bay of Campeche in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. The smoke is from burning associated with the oil wells in the region. Hawaii: A fire in the northwest of the Big Island of Hawaii produced a moderately dense smoke plume which moved to the west off the coast into the Pacific where it dissipated. Ruminski 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