DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 12, 2008

Large area of US:
Morning GOES-West visible imagery with the favorable low sun angle
showed a very large region of relatively thin haze from an unknown
source(s) extending from the eastern Pacific northeastward across
southern California and the Southwest to the Central and Northern Plains.
The large mass of haze then extends southeastward across the upper and
middle Mississippi Valley to the Southeast.

Florida:
Morning visible imagery showed a possible area of localized smoke to
the southeast of the fire burning in southern Brevard County of east
central Florida.  Brisk northwesterly winds should continue to blow smoke
from this fire to the southeast and offshore during much of the day.
Leftover thin smoke from a number of possible sources (including the
seasonal fires burning over Mexico/Central America) combined with other
unknown pollutants, which appeared last evening over the northern Gulf
of Mexico/Gulf Coast region, had shifted to the east this morning and
stretched from southern Florida across the northern Bahamas and out over
the Atlantic.

Gulf of Mexico:
Additional smoke from the ongoing seasonal fires burning across Mexico
and Central America was visible this morning mainly over the Bay of
Campeche and southern Gulf of Mexico just north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The smoke was the thickest over the Bay of Campeche where it reached at
least moderate density.

JS

Unless otherwise indicated:

Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.

Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.

A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.

Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.