DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z November 29, 2005
Southern Texas/Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee: Visible imagery late this afternoon with the accompanying lower sun angle showed a swath of blowing dust/sand which is likely leftover from yesterday's big event over Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and old Mexico. The area of dust just prior to sunset extended from southern Texas to along and off the southeastern Texas coast over the Gulf of Mexico to the Louisiana/Mississippi coast, then northward from there over northern Alabama into western and central Tennessee. It is possible that the dust/sand stretches even farther to the north than that, but other cloudiness is preventing detection. Since the area of dust/sand was not visible in satellite imagery until late afternoon, it is likely not nearly as dense as yesterday. Also, with the dust/sand being transported far from its source region and the fact that surface visibilities from reporting stations in the area of the dust/sand cloud are not being restricted, there is a good probability that most of the dust/sand is aloft. Northwestern Texas/Western Oklahoma/eastern Colorado/western Kansas: A moderately dense dust/sand plume is analyzed extending from the far eastern portions of Colorado across far western Kansas, western Oklahoma, and northwestern Texas to the Red River region of TX/OK. Strong northerly and northwesterly winds have transported this cloud southeastward from a source region most likely over far eastern Colorado, although additional cloudiness in the area makes an exact determination of the source region difficult. Southern Oklahoma/northern Texas: A number of grass fires fanned by strong westerly winds continue to burn across southern Oklahoma and northern Texas. A rather long smoke plume from the fires burning across eastern Stephens County of south central Oklahoma extended nearly 150 miles to the southeast into northeastern Texas, just south of the Red River. Another fire along the Tarrant/Palo Pinto County border of north central Texas was producing a relatively small smoke plume which was moving southeastward possibly across portions of the southern Dallas-Fort Worth region. Arizona: A cluster of fires burning in the Coronado National Forest of eastern Cochise County in southeastern Arizona is emitting a moderately dense smoke plume which has spread south-southeastward across the AZ-Mexico border. Other fires producing even smaller southward moving smoke plumes were present over east central AZ in the Apache-Sitegreaves National Forest just north of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and over central AZ in the Coconino National Forest in southern Coconino County. Additional small smoke producing fires over northern AZ in Coconino County were located in the Kaibab National Forest and also on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Southern California: A couple of fires over Imperial County of far southern California are responsible for a small localized area of smoke which stretches from the southern portion of the Salton Sea to the CA-Mexico border. JS