DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z May 22, 2011

Southwest New Mexico/Southeast Arizona:
The Miller (southwest New Mexico) and the Horseshoe 2 (southeast
Arizona) fires continue to produce moderately dense smoke that stretches
northeastward over central New Mexico.

Northern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/South Central US/Southeastern US:
An extremely large mass of what is believed to be primarily smoke
continues to cover northern Mexico, and portions of the South Central and
Southeastern US. The western edge extends from near Midland, TX through
Oklahoma City, OK, and across southern Missouri. Embedded moderately
dense to even dense smoke was present over northeastern Mexico and
the western Gulf of Mexico. This huge area of smoke was likely from a
number of sources including seasonal fires over Mexico, particularly
in Chihuahua and Durango states, and Central America as well as some
contribution in the Southeastern US and over the southwestern Atlantic
from fires in southeastern Georgia and eastern North Carolina.

Arizona/Northwest Mexico/Southern California:
Areas of low density blowing dust are visible from the Mojave
Desert/Salton Sea in California stretching northeastward across much
of Arizona into western New Mexico. The blowing is also seen in Mexico
across the northern Sonora state.

Alberta:
Moderately dense to dense smoke remains present in northern Alberta,
southwest of Lake Athabasca, as a result of the ongoing fires near
the town of Slave Lake. The smoke was moving towards the southwest
this evening.

Ruminski/Ramirez


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.