DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z May 13, 2012
Northern Plains: Several fires this afternoon and evening were seen burning across the northern Plains states and southern Manitoba. Numerous smoke plumes were seen with these fires, some rather large and dense, and were seen moving quickly away from their point source. Oregon/Idaho: Numerous fires burning through parts of Oregon into northern Idaho created several rather large areas of smoke this evening through this evening. Some smoke is even very dense in nature especially in and around the larger fires. Central Arizona: The Bull Flat Fire in central/southern Arizona is creating a large and very dense smoke plume this evening and is moving towards the south/southeast. Portions of this smoke plume are reaching into far western areas of New Mexico. Northern/Western Mexico: A large area of smoke with new and remnant smoke can be seen through portions of southern Sonora, southern Chihuahua and Sinaloa. This is from the numerous fires burning today and over the past several days. Blowing Dust: Two, very large and distinct areas of what appears to be blowing dust of Asian origin can be seen in satellite imagery this evening. The first area can be seen just off the coast of British Columbia in a thin ribbon just along the frontal boundary that is moving eastward towards the coast line. The second area has been seen for the past several days and has finally made its way into the US and stretches from southern Manitoba/southern Ontario into the Northern Plains/Montana/Idaho/Oregon/Nevada. There could be some remnant smoke mixed in as well but the majority of this seems to be remnant dust. Belge 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