DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0115Z May 1, 2008
Southeast: Numerous fires were seen over South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi with smoke plumes. The smoke was circulating around an area of high pressure so that the plumes over eastern Georgia and South Carolina were moving to the southeast over the Atlantic, the plumes over most of Florida were moving to the west-southwest into the Gulf and the plumes over Alabama, Mississippi, western Georgia and western South Carolina were moving to the north. Some of the larger plumes were seen over eastern Georgia emanating from a fire in Evans county and extending east off the coast and then south off the coast east of Jacksonville. Another large smoke plume was seen over southwest Wakulla county in Florida which produced a plume of moderate to thick smoke west along the coast and another plume of moderate to thick smoke that drifted north across all of western Wakulla. A fire over western Collier county in Florida had a plume of light to moderate smoke that extended 150 km off the coast. Two fires in Mississippi, in Wayne and Scott counties, had plumes of thin smoke extending north nearly 150 km. Louisiana: A fire in Rapides parish in Louisiana had a plume of moderatley dense smoke that lifted north and reached into Union county in southern Arkansas. Texas: A pair of large fires in south Texas in Jim Hogg and Brooks counties produced plumes of light to moderately dense smoke that extended to the north-northwest reaching into LaSalle county. A fire in southeast Pecos county had a plume of mainly moderately dense smoke moving to the east across northern Crockett county. An area of unknown aerosol, extended from west Texas near Gaines county to the northeast between Childress and Wichita Falls. This is likely either blowing dust or remnant smoke. Nebraska: A narrow plume of thin smoke extended from Custer county to the northwest into Cherry county. New Mexico: A large blaze in western Torrance county generated a very thick plume of smoke that spread to the east and reached into the northwest Texas Panhandle by sunset. Another blaze that developed and spread rapidly in eastern New Mexico over northern Lea county did not have any discernible smoke due to cloud cover. However, it is likely that there was some smoke that would have moved east into west Texas. Four Corners Area and Nevada: Several areas of blowing dust were seen across the region due to high winds. The most prominent areas of blowing dust were over parts of southern Nevada and also over northeast Arizona extending to the northeast across northern New Mexico and into Colorado. Mexico: Numerous fires were seen along the Sierra Madre Occidental range in northern Mexico in western Chihuahua and Durango. These fires were producing narrow plumes of light to locally moderately dense smoke that were moving quickly to the east-northeast. Some of the plumes in Chihuahua were reaching west Texas by sunset. Great Lakes and Northeast: An area of remnant smoke from the fires in Russia was drifting across the central Great Lakes from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan southeast across central Lake Erie and then eastward off the Mid Atlantic Coast off New Jersey. The plume then curls to the northeast off Cape Cod and just off the eastern tip of Maine. Ruminski