DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0045Z NOVEMBER 16, 2008

Southern California:
A huge mass of moderately dense to dense smoke spread westward and out
over the Pacific Ocean from several large destructive wildfires burning
in Los Angeles and Orange Counties of southern California.  After moving
westward and offshore, some of the thinner smoke then turned northward
and even curved eastward back toward the central California coast around
Monterey Bay. Another fire close to the US-Mexico border just to the
south of San Diego County produced a relatively thin smoke plume which
moved to the west and offshore.

Arizona:
A fire just north of Grand Canyon National Park in the Kaibab National
Forest was responsible for a very long narrow smoke plume of thin density
which moved to the west into southern Nevada, just east of Las Vegas
by sunset.

Louisiana:
Several fires along extreme southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana
produced thin smoke plumes which were quickly blown to the south-southeast
and out over the Gulf of Mexico.

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.