DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z October 2, 2010
Oregon/Washington/Idaho/Montana: Quite a few smoke producing fires were analyzed during the day over this region. In addition, patches of thin density smoke were visible moving to the northeast across portions of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, a good portion of Idaho, and western Montana. Some of this smoke was believed to be leftover from the large fire burning in southwestern Utah. It was visible yesterday moving northward over north central California and north central Nevada. Wyoming/Utah/Colorado/Central and Southern Plains: Cloudiness developed during the day over southern Utah which partially obscured the view of the large fire in eastern Beaver County. However, leftover thin density smoke from this fire as well as some contribution from the numerous fires burning over the Western US was visible moving to the southeast stretching from eastern Utah across central Colorado, eastern Wyoming, and portions of the Central and even Southern Plains. Middle and Lower Mississippi Valley/Gulf Coast Region: Again, a very large number of smoke producing fires were analyzed across the Middle and Lower Mississippi Valley region resulting a larger consolidated batch of mainly thin density smoke which moved to the south during the late afternoon. Also, an area of primarily thin density smoke combined with other aerosols was visible moving offshore over the western Gulf of Mexico. The smoke in this region was believed to be leftover from the Mississippi Valley agricultural burns which have been occurring for many days. Some contribution from fires along the coastal portions of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana added to the mix. Numerous other smoke producing fires were detected across the south central, central, and western US. For graphical information on these smoke plumes, please refer to the web links below. JS 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