DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z May 24, 2011
Northeast Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico: An large mass of primarily smoke continues to cover much of northeast Mexico and the western Gulf of Mexico. This huge area of smoke was mainly from seasonal fires over northern Mexico, the Yucatan and Central America. Southeast US/Atlantic Ocean/Eastern Gulf of Mexico: A broad area of light smoke was seen over the northeast Gulf of Mexico and extended into the Atlantic Ocean off of the Carolinas. Smoke from the Pains Bay fire, which is moderate at times, contributed some of the smoke in this area. Northern Canada: An area of dense smoke continues to originate from the large wildfires in northeast Alberta. The most recent smoke is generally moving to the southwest into west central Alberta. A larger area of light remnant smoke was seen over western Northwest Territories and eastern Yukon. Alaska: Remnant smoke from the wildfires in Alberta, Canada, moved westward through central portions of Alaska this morning. BLOWING DUST IN THE UNITED STATES: Texas: Blowing dust was viewed on satellite imagery this morning near Lubbock. Around 1430Z this morning, dust plumes originated in Andrews, Terry, and Hockley Counties, all in Texas. Within two hours, the dust plumes traveled to Floyd and Crosby Counties to the east. This dust is expected to move to the east/northeast throughout the day. New Mexico: An area of blowing dust originated in Eddy County, New Mexico this morning. By 1630Z, the plume moved to the east and approached the Texas/New Mexico border over Lea County, NM. Also, a dust plume from White Sands began this morning and moved to the east/northeast. Myrga THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE 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 ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov