DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200z APRIL 24, 2006.
Mexico/Guatemala/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba Fires burning in the western states of Mexico including Jalisco, Colima Michoacan, Guerrero and Oaxaca are producing an area of moderately dense smoke. Smoke is mixing in with haze and moving west off the coast into the Pacific. Thinner smoke is spreading across the southern sections of the Gulf of Mexico from fires burning across Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatan in Mexico, north Guatemala and western Cuba. The thin smoke is moving north from the Mexican states and north Guatemala into the western/central Gulf of Mexico. Smoke from western Cuba is moving west into the eastern/central sections of the Gulf of Mexico. Smoke is possibly mixing in across the northern sections of the Gulf of Mexico and near the U.S. coast, but haze and clouds are making the full view of smoke difficult to see. Large fires near Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo are emitting very thick smoke which is part of the smoke mentioned above. The plumes are stretching 50-100 km into the Gulf of Mexico. Arizona: An intense fire is burning just north of Phoenix in Coconino county, giving off a very narrow, but very dense smoke plume heading north just reaching the southern Utah border. New Mexico: Several fires burning in Union county are creating a moderately dense smoke plume that is moving north into Las Animas county of southeast Colorado. A small fire in DeBaca county is creating a thin smoke plume that is just barely moving northward to the tip of the county line. Washington: A small plume of smoke is coming from a fire in Stevens county and is heading southwest into Lincoln and Douglas counties. Another fire located in Whitman county is giving off a very narrow smoke plume that is moving west towards Adams county. North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota/Iowa/Wisconsin: Many fires are burning within the Upper Mississippi Valley region today, creating lots of thin smoke plumes. The counties which are afflicted by these smoke plumes are Richland, Grant, Douglas, Stearns, Sherburne, Carver, McLeod, Sibley, Scott, Wright, Renville, Lac Qui Parle, Big Stone, Rock, Lyon and Osceola. Texas/Louisiana: A fire burning in Tyler county is emitting a plume of moderately dense smoke. The smoke is moving north into the counties of Angelina, Trinity, Polk and Houston. Several fires are burning in the county of St. Tammany in Louisiana. They are producing thin plumes of smoke moving north. Banks/Kibler