DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z May 18, 2014
SMOKE: Southern Canada / North central US: Numerous agricultural burns in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba from today and days prior have collectively produced an area of light density smoke extending from the southern portion of said provinces, mainly moving south and southeast into North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is likely some dust / aerosol contribution in this area as well. The exact extent of this aerosol mix is not well defined due to extensive clouds in the region. Arizona/New Mexico/Texas: An area of remnant light density smoke from the Skunk fire in southeast Arizona was seen drifting eastward across West Texas from near Ft Stockton and Pecos reaching to near Brady in central Texas. A new surge of moderate to dense smoke from today's burning extended from the fire east and southeast covering much of the southwest quarter of New Mexico. DUST: Nevada: Another round of blowing dust was seen being kicked up late this afternoon and evening in western Nevada. The source region was the Carson Sink / Humboldt Lake area. This dust was moving to the east into central Nevada. California: A small area of blowing dust was seen originating from the desert areas southwest of the Salton Sea in southern California and moving to the east this afternoon and evening. Ruminski 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