DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z October 1. 2011
Middle to Lower Mississippi Valley: Many fires were analyzed again during the day especially across far southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas. Numerous smoke plumes were also visible moving in a southerly or southeasterly direction. The thin density plumes affected not only southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas, but also moved into extreme western Tennessee and northern Louisiana as well. Southeastern US/Northern Gulf of Mexico/Southern Texas: A band of aerosol was visible along and just ahead of a surface frontal boundary extending from the Southeast coast westward across the Gulf coast region and the northern Gulf of Mexico from the Florida panhandle to southern Texas. It is possible that some remnant smoke from scattered fires in the Southeast. lower Mississippi Valley, and South Central US during the past couple of days. South Central Canada/Northern North Dakota/Northwestern Minnesota: A significant number of fires were detected again across northwestern Minnesota, northern North Dakota, southeastern Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. Not as much smoke was visible in satellite imagery in this region compared to yesterday, though around a dozen smoke plumes were seen moving primarily to the north. Cloudiness did interfere with smoke detection in a portion of this area. Northwestern US: Numerous fires and a number of significant smoke plumes were analyzed today across the region stretching from Oregon to western Montana and northwestern Wyoming. However, some details concerning the smoke density and extent could not be determined in satellite imagery with some of the fires due to cloudiness. The smoke plumes that were visible over northeastern Oregon, northern and central Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern Wyoming were generally moving to the east or northeast. JS 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