DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z May 16, 2014
SMOKE: Southern California/Pacific Ocean: A large plume of light-density smoke is visible off the coast of southern California in the Pacific Ocean. This remnant smoke originates from the Bernardo wildfire currently raging in San Diego, CA. There are also multiple wildfires burning across the border in Baja, Mexico that could be contributing to the smoke as well. Manitoba/Saskatchewan: An area of light-density smoke is visible coming down from northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The plume is moving south towards the American border. The smoke originates from the dozens of agricultural burns taking place in the area. Mexico/US Border: A plume of light-density remnant smoke is visible moving SE across the US/Mexico border originating from the Skunk wildfire in Arizona. AEROSOLS: Northern/Southern Plains: A large area of unknown aerosols are visible moving SE from Saskatchewan all the way south to northern Arkansas. Aerosols are also visible in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. Due to the cloud cover, agricultural burning, sulfates, and Asian dust converging in the area, it is difficult to discern the three. 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.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/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