Wednesday, February 7, 2018

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0132Z February 8, 2018

SMOKE:
Southeast CONUS...
A handful of fires in Florida were observed emitting smoke this
afternoon. Broken cloud cover obscured the view of Florida for much of
the afternoon, limiting the number of smoke plumes analyzed.  Of more
significance, a fire on Andros Island in the Bahamas was seen producing
a large smoke plume this afternoon that was approaching the Florida
coast. Smoke from this fire, along with those emanating from fires in
Florida, was moving off to the north-northwest.

South-Central CONUS...
About a dozen or so fires were observed emitting smoke this afternoon
from west Texas into southwestern Missouri. A fire in northeastern New
Mexico and a fire in west Texas were both emitting smoke for much of
the afternoon. The smoke from those fires was observed moving to the
north-northeast, while much of the rest of the smoke was observed moving
south in the wake of a cold frontal passage.

Northern California...
A number of fires were observed emitting light smoke throughout Northern
Caifornia, many of which were in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Within
the valley, the smoke plumes were moving toward the south, while those
on the western rim were moving west and one on the eastern rim was
moving north.

Colorado River Delta/Arizona...
Over half a dozen fires were seen emitting thin density smoke from the
mouth of the Colorado River into northern Arizona. These thin smoke
plumes were observed moving off to the south around an anticyclone over
the Las Vegas area.

BLOWING DUST:
Central Nevada...
In Churchill County, between New Pass Peak and Mount Augusta, blowing
dust was observed being lifted from a dry lake bed. The dust was confined
within the valley between New Pass Peak and Mount Augusta as it moved
off toward the southwest.

Hosley

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.