Saturday, May 22, 2010

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


 


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.