Sunday, April 24, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z April 25, 2011

Cloudy conditions across the United States limited smoke and dust
detection this evening.

White Sands:
Blowing sand and dust originating in White Sands, NM was viewed in
satellite imagery this evening.   The sand/dust began moving to the
northeast around 2115Z. By 0015Z on April 25, the plume was approaching
the Texas border and traveled as far as Roosevelt County, NM, nearly
200 miles away from the source.

Chihuahua, Mexico:
Blowing sand and dust from desert areas in northern Chihuahua entered
the United States around extreme western Texas this evening.   The dust
plumes began around 2115Z, traveled mainly to the east, and entered
Texas around 0015Z on April 25.

Gulf of Mexico:
A large area of remnant smoke from fires in Mexico and throughout Central
America continues to be seen in the western Gulf.

Myrga

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

 


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.