Sunday, November 28, 2010

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2245Z November 28, 2010

Sunday evening was very busy for dust/blowing sand observations in
the United States.  Strong winds in the southwestern United States and
northern Mexico have allowed for dust/sand plumes to form, often carrying
the plumes great distances.

Chihuahua, Mexico
Numerous dust/sand plumes were observed in this evening's imagery.
The plumes originated in northern Chihuahua around 1815Z and moved to
the northeast.  By 2015Z, some plumes originating in Mexico crossed the
Mexico/US border in western Texas.

Sonora, Mexico
Several dust/sand plumes were viewed in the imagery this evening.  By
2145Z, the plumes, which formed in northeastern Sonora, were approaching
the Mexico/US border. Given the intensity of the plumes and the winds, it
is assumed that these plumes crossed into the United States after sunset.

Texas
An area of blowing sand/dust was observed originating southwest of
Littlefield, TX this evening.  This northeast moving plume approached
the Amarillo and the I-40 corridor by sunset.

New Mexico
Several sand/dust plumes were viewed this evening.   A plume originating
in central Hildago County crossed into Mexico and re-entered New Mexico
in Luna and Dona Ana Counties.   A plume starting in White Sands crossed
the Sacramento Mountains and approached Roswell.   Also, another plume
originated east of Roswell and another began in Roosevelt County around
1845Z.  All of these plumes generally moved to the northeast, with some
dust/sand crossing into Texas.

Arizona
A dust/sand plume formed this evening south of Wilcox, AZ around 1945Z.
This plume moved to the northeast.

Kansas
An area of light blowing sand/dust was observed from around 2130Z through
sunset  over southwest Kansas, originating between Liberal and Garden
City, and quickly spreading to the northeast on strong, gusty winds up
to 40 mph.

Gulf of Mexico
An area of light aerosol, likely smoke, was seen off the western tip of
Cuba. Smoke would be associated with agricultural burning observed on
Cuba in the evening.

An area of smoke, locally moderately dense, was associated with the oil
rigs in the Bay of Campeche in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. This smoke
area was moving north and will likely accelerate northward across the
western Gulf overnight and during the day on Monday in response to a
strong storm system that will be moving into the Plains states.

Myrga/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.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. THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN
GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT
PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov

 


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.