DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z February 20, 2012
Resent to include Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Florida Keys... Southern New Mexico/Western Texas/Northern Mexico: Several swaths of thin density blowing dust were visible during the late afternoon and early evening just prior to sunset moving to the northeast across portions of far western Texas (including El Paso), far southern New Mexico, and northern Mexico (Mexican state of Chihuahua). Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Florida Keys: A patch of detached remnant thin density smoke was seen in satellite imagery moving to the north-northeast across a portion of the Florida Keys. This smoke likely originated from fires burning in Cuba yesterday. Elsewhere, no significant areas of detached smoke and blowing dust/sand were visible in satellite imagery during the day. JS 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