DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z March 10, 2007
South Carolina: Multiple fires around the Florence and Marion have proudced a large are a of thin smoke that has been drifting NW and currently covers Lancaster and eastern and central portions of York and Chester counties in SC as well as Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties in NC. A fire near Leesburg in NE Richland county (east of Fort Jackson) earlier produced thin smoke that has drifted NW and covers most of eastern and central Newberry county. North Carolina: A fire west of Franklin along the Nantahala Mtns. in Macon county is producing thin to moderate smoke that is hugging the highest elevations of the NC Appalachians first moving N then NE mainly in the valley... of Swain county into far W Haywood county. The plume is about 15km wide. Georgia/Tennessee: A large fire producing moderate to dense smoke near Doogan (E of Cisco) in NE Murray county GA is moving due north and nearly covers all of Polk, McMinn and Monroe counties in TN. High clouds are starting to make detection difficult. Florida: A very large fire along the coast in Franklin county near Hays Place, Creels and Beverly is producing a large amount of smoke from thin to dense depending on the direction of motion...as different altitudes are moving either N, E or SE. It appears that the low level smoke is moving N and extends to I-10 near the Apalachicola River. Mid-level smoke is drifting due east (and bridges the gap in the fanned out shape between low and upper level smoke) out to the Panacea along the Wakulla coutny coastline. The upper level smoke is rapidly moving SE and extens clear across to near Steinhatchee along the Taylor/Dixie county line, which is about 150km from the source and is about 44km wide. A thin pocket of smoke in the shape of a V from a fire in far SE Washington county has moved north and now covers portions of E Geneva county AL and W Jackson county in FL. E Texas/Louisiana: A fire on the NE side of Alexadria in Rapides parish has produced a very large area of dense smoke that has moved toward the NE and covers all of N Catahoula (N of US-84), LaSalle, S Caldwell, and the SW quarter of Franklin parishes. The plume extends about 100km to the NW of the fire and is about 80km at its widest point...but is about 15km wide across NE Rapides into SW LaSalle parish as it begins to thin out...with the loss of fuel. A fire near Sandy Hill (SW portion of Fort Polk) in Vernon parish is producing a thin smoke cloud that extends NE 50km to Red River along the Rapides parish line. The plume is about 16km wide. A fire near the parish line of Winn, Natchitoches, and Bienville parish is producing a thin smoke plume that extends NE to Grambling, LA or 54km away. The plume is about 12km wide. A fire near Kurthwood in northern Vernon parish produced a large area of very thin smoke that extends N to NE covering nearly all of Natchitoches parish. A fire near Stringtown in Sabine county, TX is producing a narrow line of moderate to dense smoke that extends NE across Natchitoches parish some 86km. The pluem is about 35km wide. A fire near Hagerville or Fog Town in Houston county is producing moderately dense smoke that extends NE 90km to near Dotson, Buncome and Gary in Panola county. The plume is about 24km wide. Elsewhere in the SE: including AR, MO, W TN, KY, AL Large areas of broken to scattered clouds have shown glimses of smoke plumes throughout the day, but are not detectable at this time. Please see Hazard Mapping System graphic or GIS web page for further details. Gallina