DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0030Z December 6, 2006
Arizona: A large wildfire SE of Mormon Lake at the corner of Yavapai and Coconino county just E of I-17 is producing dense smoke that is moving East and is about 44km wide and extends to the Navajo/Apache county line about 34km N of Show Low. A fire near Ponderosa Park in Yavapai county near Prescott is producing moderate smoke that has disperse quite well into thin smoke. The smoke moved south and east but is elongated in a thin line just north but parallel to the Yavapai/Maricopa county line and is moving SSE. A secondary puff of smoke is racing due east out from Prescott to I-17. A fire near Big Springs in Coconino county in Kaibib Natl' Forest is producing thin smoke that is drifting due south and is currently crossing the Grand Canyon. A fire near Aztec Lodge in central Gila county is producing thin smoke that is moving due east to US-60 near Salt River Canyon. California: A new small fire near San Clemente on the exteme NW of Camp Pendelton east of I-5 but west of the Cleveland Nat'l Forest is producing a thin to moderately dense smoke plume that extends due south across I-5 into the Pacific Ocean. Southeast US including SC, NC, GA, AL, N FL: A extremely high amount of agricultural fires were seen today burning across the area nearly half with some sort of discernable thin smoke plume. A sfc high pressure located over AL lead to differing directions of smoke movement. I-20 acts nicely as a boundary between differing motions, south of I-20 smoke generally moved S to SW while north of it smoke moved N to NE. Below are listed some of the most significant plumes, others can be seen on the HMS graphic or GIS page: In SC: A fire near Rushville in Greenwood county between US-25, US-378 and SR-10 produced smoke that due to weak winds became moderate in dencsity. In GA: A fire near Axson in Atkinson county produced moderate smoke that moved south into Clinch county near Magnolia. In AL: A fire near Shiloh in Chambers county produced moderate smoke that moved south into Lee county near Ridge Grove. A fire near Damascus in Coffee county produced moderate smoke that moved SSE to the AL/FL state line near Chapel Hill, AL. A fire near Commerce in Conecuh county produced moderate smoke that moved SE to near Range in Conecuh county. A fire between Serange in Baldwin county and Mineola in Monroe county produced dense smoke that drifted SW to the northern portions of Mobile Bay. A thinner area extended further SW to near Forest Park in Mobile county. In FL: A fire near Alcoma in Polk county produced dense smoke that became diffuse to moderate density as it expanded NW to WSW with maximum extent toward the WNW near Moriczville in Hillsborough county. A fire near Glendale in Walton county produced moderate smoke that moved SE to the central portions of Choctawhatchee Bay. South Central US including TX, AR, LA, MS: An extremely high amount of agricultural fires across the area (particularly in LA) produced a large amount of smoke with nearly every fire producing some amount that moved north to NNE. The exception were fires in the coastal counties of TX and LA where smoke moved W to WNW. Below are listed some of the most significant plumes, others can be seen on the HMS graphic or GIS page: In LA: A fire near Cheniere au Tigre in E Vermilion parish near the Vermilion Bay produced a moderate smoke plume that moved W to just south of Grand Lake in W Cameron parish. Multiple fires along the Mississippi River in SE Iberville parish and E Assumption parish combined into a moderatly dense plume of smoke that moved NW between Palo Alto in Ascension parish and Musson in N Iberville parish. A fire near Lunita in SW Calcasieu parish produced moderate smoke that moved N to Junction in Beauregard parish. A fire near Grant but just across the parish line in NE Beauregard parish produced moderate smoke that moved north to Simpson in Vernon parish. A fire near Friendship in Bienville parish produced a thin to moderately dense smoke plume that move N to near Lisbon in Clairbourne parish. A fire near Langston in Clairbourne parish produced moderate smoke that moved NNE to the AR/LA line near Dodge City, AR. In TX: A fire near Norwood in San Augustine county produced dense smoke that moved north to near Stanley in De Soto county before it was covered by midlevel clouds. A fire on the southern portion of Matagorda Island across from the San Antonio Bay produced a brief but explosive puff of smoke that quickly began to disperse from NW to E with the majority of smoke that thinned out quickly moving over Lavaca and Tres Palacios Bay into the Gulf of Mexico E of Port O'Conner. Gallina