DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z March 21, 2011
Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic Region/Southeast/Gulf of Mexico: The NWS Air Quality Forecast Guidance at the following site... http://www.nws.noaa.gov/aq/sectors/conus.php is indicating leftover smoke across portions of the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic region, the Southeast, and offshore over the far western Atlantic and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Visible satellite imagery does show a bit of aerosol in some of these areas though cloudiness scattered over this region is interfering with detection. Any leftover smoke is due to the ongoing daily large number of fires burning across the South Central and Southeastern portions of the country. Southwestern US: Strong gusty southwesterly winds across the Southwestern US is likely causing areas of blowing dust with reports of blowing dust noted in a couple of observations from northern and central New Mexico. However, cloudiness is widespread over a good portion of the Southwest which is preventing detection in satellite imagery. 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. THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov