DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1900Z January 1, 2006
New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma: Satellite imagery through early afternoon showed fires breaking out and increasing in coverage and intensity across portions of far eastern New Mexico, western and central Texas, and central Oklahoma. Some cloudiness was also present across the region which may be hindering additional fire and smoke detection. Have noted an eastward moving smoke plume from very intense fires over southern Sterling County of western Texas as well as near the Irion/Reagan County border. Another eastward moving smoke plume was visible from a fire located over the northeastern portion of Lea County of New Mexico near the border with Yoakum County of western Texas. In addition to the smoke plumes, an expanding large cloud of blowing dust/sand was visible from multiple source regions in eastern New Mexico and western Texas. The blowing dust/sand was spreading rapidly eastward across the Texas panhandle, including the area around Lubbock, and over the border into southwestern Oklahoma. JS