DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 26, 2011
Central Plains: A large area of mostly light remnant smoke mixed in with new smoke from the numerous fires tonight through OK and KS can be seen in satellite imagery this evening. With a northeasterly wind in place over the region, the smoke has been moving towards the southwest and extends into the eastern Panhandle of Texas and near the Colorado border. Some moderate smoke is mixed in as some of these wildfires continue to burn over that region. Desert Southwest: An area of light smoke remains over southern CA and portions of central/southern AZ from large fires that continue to burn through that region and parts of the northern Baja and Sonora. This area is moving eastward and is near the AZ/NM border at this time. There is also an area of blowing dust in southern/central NM near the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge. Moderate southwesterly winds and very dry conditions in the region are the likely cause of this. Southeast US/Northern Gulf of Mexico: Fires continued to burn today throughout the southeastern US with numerous smoke plumes see in imagery as a result. The large fires in southern GA are continuing to produce large and dense smoke plumes that are now moving eastward off the southeast coast. Remnant smoke mixing in with new smoke from today remains through the northern Gulf of Mexico through the FL Panhandle eastward off the Atlantic coast. Some of this smoke remains moderate at this time from near Tallahassee to Jacksonville, FL. Northern Mexico/Southern Texas: Large wildfires in northern Coahuila, Mexico are still burning this evening and as a result, producing dense smoke plumes that are moving northward into portions of southern Texas, almost reaching the western part of San Antonio at this time. Belge From Earlier: Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Southern Florida: An expansive area of thin to occasionally moderate density remnant smoke currently covers nearly the entire western half of the Gulf of Mexico as smoke from the fires in Mexico over the last few days continues to be pulled northward towards the U.S. In addition, several day old remnant smoke from fires in the southeast that has been gradually being pushed southward by a frontal boundary can be seen over the east central Gulf of Mexico extending across southern Florida and the northern Bahamas. A third area of smoke that is likely more fresh, probably only from yesterday's fires, can be seen originating from Cuba moving west and then northwest from the island nation. Sheffler 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