DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z October 22, 2011
Northern Gulf of Mexico: Thin smoke covered a large portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico this morning as it streamed southward off the coast. Large amounts of ag burning yesterday in the Southeast US and along the Lower Mississippi River Valley produced the bulk of this smoke. The remnant smoke may have extended further southward but a field of cumulus clouds obscured the view. A large fire in eastern Cameron Parish in southwest Louisiana was likely responsible for a plume of moderate density smoke that extended southward over the western Gulf. Great Lakes Region: An area of aerosol believed to be thin smoke was present over portions of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Wiscosin, and the U.P. Of Michigan. This thin smoke was being swept eastward by a frontal boundary. The smoke probably originated from the numerous ag fires that were burning yesterday over the North Dakota, northwest Minnesota, southern Manitoba, and southern Saskatchewan. 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