DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 20 2013
Smoke: Central America to Northern Mississippi Valley: A large area of smoke of light density is visible from the western Gulf of Mexico, far NW Caribbean, and east Pacific Ocean, stretching from NW Nicaragua across the Yucatan Peninsula, north to SE Minnesota and central Wisconsin in the US. Areas covered in this band of light smoke include: SE Minnesota, central Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, western Illinois, Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, western Louisiana, SE Texas, eastern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and NW Nicaragua extending into the east Pacific. Heavy and moderate smoke in density is visible in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Yucatan Peninsula and stretching south covering Guatemala. The smoke originates from agricultural burns currently in process in Mexico and Central America. Oegerle THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF 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