DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z September 1, 2011
Central US: An expansive area of smoke is observed this morning over much of the central US including the central plains and the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. Bands of thin density smoke stretch from central New Mexico northeastward across the Texas panhandle and all of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, eastern Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, southern Minnesota, and southern Wisconsin. The remnant smoke is located ahead of a cold front and appears not to be moving in any particular direction. Likely origins of both the days-old and the new smoke include large wildfires in Oregon/Montana/Idaho, large wildfires in Texas/Oklahoma, and numerous ag burns in the lower Mississippi River Valley. Southeast US: What appears to be an area of haze and pollution aerosols is present in the far western Atlantic off the Carolina coasts this morning. Origin and composition are undetermined but it is believed that smoke contribution is little to none. Northwest US: Through 1800Z smoke in the northwest is found only in Oregon near the 60,000 acre Hancock Complex wildfire in Wheeler County. This smoke is moving in the north-northwest direction not quite reaching the Washington state border and is thin density with an embedded strip of moderate density smoke. Ramirez 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