DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0430Z May 25, 2011
North and Northeast Mexico/East Texas/Oklahoma/Western Gulf of Mexico: An large mass of thin to moderately dense smoke covered north and northeast Mexico and the entire western Gulf of Mexico this evening. It also wrapped northward across the eastern half of Texas into Oklahoma. This huge area of smoke was mainly from seasonal fires over northern Mexico, the Yucatan and Central America. Southeast US/East Coast/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Lower and Mid-Mississippi Valleys: Several areas of thin to moderate density smoke were seen over the northeast Gulf of Mexico and extending across Florida into the Atlantic Ocean off of the Carolinas and Virginia. This smoke could be a mix of smoke from the large fires in Mexico and fires in the Southeast US, including the Pains Bay fire in NC. Another large area of smoke was pushing northward from the Gulf Coast into the Mid-Mississippi Valley. This smoke probably came from the fires in Mexico and from fires along the Lower Mississippi River Valley although smoke from fires in Florida today was also wrapping back to the northwest and may have contributed. Western and South Central Canada/Minnesota/Lake Superior: An area of dense smoke continues to originate from the large wildfires in northeast Alberta. Smoke seen this evening was generally moving to the southwest and southward into west central Saskatchewan and central Alberta. Thin remnant smoke was seen stretching southeast across Canada to Ontario/northern Minnesota/Lake Superior and northwestward over British Columbia, Yukon Territory, the northwest corner of the Northwest Territories, and northeast Alaska. BLOWING DUST IN THE UNITED STATES: New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma: A large blowing dust/sand event was taking place today as a strong weather system wrapped up across the Central Plains. The blowing dust/sand was originating from numerous source points across south/east New Mexico, extreme northern Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle. The dust/sand was then being transported across northwest Texas into southwest/central Oklahoma and likely was being pulled even further north into central Kansas, though clouds obscured the view somewhat north of Oklahoma. Sheffler THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE 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 ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov