DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z May 21, 2011
Northern Mexico/Central Baja: The persistent very thin and elongated area of light, remnant smoke continues to shift to the south and east over Baja California and the Gulf of California. The thin band also extends over northwestern Mexico and approaches the US/Mexico border. This smoke was seen moving southward down the West Coast yesterday and is from the wildfires currently burning through northern Alberta. Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico: A very large mass of smoke continues to cover much of the western and northern Gulf of Mexico. The smoke also extends northward through the Gulf Coast states and into the Atlantic Ocean. The sources for all of this smoke is a combination of fires burning over Mexico and Central America. Satellite imagery from this morning shows smoke, moderate density at times, streaming northward from the Bay of Campeche. Pains Bay Fire/North Carolina Remnant smoke from the Pains Bay fire in eastern North Carolina moved to the south this morning along the North Carolina coast. Myrga 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