DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z April 7, 2010
South Central Canada/North Central US/Great Lakes Region: Thin layer remnant smoke seen this morning over southern Canada had drifted a bit southward today reaching into northwest Montana, northern North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota. The remnant smoke further east to the north of the Great Lakes could not be seen as well this evening due to thickening cloud cover. Southeast US/Mid-Atlantic: A band of thin to moderately dense smoke was positioned from the Florida panhandle northward along the Alabama/Georgia border and then northeastward across the Georgia, the Carolinas, southeast Virginia, and extreme southern Maryland. Numerous fires burning in the southeast today were adding fresh smoke to the mix of old and new smoke. Another large area of remnant smoke from the past few days of southeast US fires had pushed off the Mid-Atlantic coast and was moving eastward. Gulf of Mexico: Remnant smoke from fires in Mexico and Cuba continued to persist across the western Gulf of Mexico this evening with some being moderately dense. The remnant smoke was seen drifting north and northwest towards the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Central to Midwestern US: A large area of thin smoke positioned across the Central to Midwestern US had expanded north/northeast today mixing with haze/dust collected along a frontal boundary. The mixture of aerosols stretched from northeast Oklahoma to southwest Michigan this evening. Some of the smoke may have originated in Mexico several days ago but a good portion has come from the more recent fires in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Southwestern US to Central Plains: The band of mixed aerosols seen this morning along a cold front could still be picked out in this evenings' imagery. The band is likely comprised mostly of blowing dust/sand and haze, with additional sand/dust seen being picked up from White Sands, NM this evening. The band stretched from central Kansas southwest to the northern Baja Penninsula. -Sheffler 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.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/land/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