DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z February 1, 2011
Much of the eastern half of the country is covered in clouds this morning, hindering any possible smoke detection. One item of note was seen tracking from the southwest into the central Gulf of Mexico. This is an area of volcanic ash from the eruption of Popocatepetl near Mexico City. There was also a plume extending northward from the Bay of Campeche into a frontal zone sweeping across the western Gulf. This plume is likely from industrial activity along the Mexican coast or from the oil platforms just offshore. Blowing Dust: A plume of blowing dust emanating from an area along the Nevada/California border near Death Valley Junction was seen drifting south this morning and moving toward the Salton Sea. Another area of blowing dust was over northwest Utah around the Bonneville Salt Flats and was moving to the south into west central Utah along and just over the Nevada border. 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