DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1430Z May 1, 2010
Illinois/Wisconsin: An area of light aerosols of unknown origin and composition was moving northeastward across northwestern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. New England/Mid Atlantic: Large area of light aerosols of unknown origin and composition was moving southeastward across the southern New England and Mid Atlantic states and into the Atlantic. Western Gulf of Mexico/Texas/Louisiana: Light to isolated moderate smoke from fires in Mexico covered much of the western Gulf and Bay of Campeche and penetrated northward across eastern Texas to the Oklahoma border. Based on the northward movement of the smoke and the 12Z sounding from DFW the smoke was estimated to be between 6000 and 7000 feet. Eastern Gulf of Mexico: An area of aerosols was also pushing north across the eastern Gulf. This area was less dense than that in the western Gulf and may be composed of a mix of smoke from fires in Central America and dust from Africa. 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