DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z MAY 2, 2009
Upper Midwest to the northern Rockies: A ribbon of very thin aerosol of unkown composition was seen just after sunrise extending from southern Lake Michigan back to the west northwest across South Dakota, Montana and into southern British Columbia. The source of the aerosol is unknown. Gulf of Mexico: The large mass of thin to moderately dense smoke emanating from the large number of seasonal fires burning in southeastern Mexico and Central America was over the southwest Gulf of Mexico. The smoke was mainly confined to an area south of 25N and west of 92W. East Pacific: A broad area of light to moderately dense smoke due to a large number of agricultural fires in southwest Mexico was seen moving off the coast into the East Pacific. The smoke was most dense emanating from the state of Guerraro. Ruminski THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html GIS: http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm KML: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov