DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z November 5, 2011
Southwestern US/Northwestern Mexico: Gusty southwesterly winds kicked up an area of blowing dust which extended from northern Baja and northwestern Mexico across southwestern and south central Arizona. Blowing dust was reported at a few locations across Arizona including Phoenix. Louisiana: Seasonal fires were concentrated over south central Louisiana with numerous smoke plumes also visible. The smoke moved to the south during the afternoon. North Dakota/Minnesota/South Central Canada: Once again, a tremendous number of seasonal fires were analyzed over portions of North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota, southeastern Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. However, only a handful of smoke plumes were visible in satellite imagery. High level cloudiness moving over the region did interfere with smoke detection in satellite imagery. Western US/British Columbia: Fires were scattered across the area stretching from central California northward to southern British Columbia. The most concentrated area of fires were located over western Oregon, southwestern Washington, and southern British Columbia. Cloudiness prevented much in the way of smoke detection in satellite imagery, though smoke was visible emanating from some of the fires in British Columbia as well as north central California. 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