Sunday, April 1, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0115Z April 2, 2012


Upper Midwest:
An elongated, almost W-E oriented area of what appears to be light,
remnant smoke can be seen in this evening's satellite imagery from
southern Minnesota through northern Iowa and into northern Illinois and
Indiana. Numerous fires not only today but throughout the last several
days have likely led to this large area of remnant smoke.

Lower/Mid Mississippi Valley:
Several large fires today have led to an area of smoke across
central/northern Arkansas into Missouri this evening. There is also some
heavy, dense smoke within this area that is moving towards the northeast
near the Arkansas/Missouri border.

Southern/Central Plains:
A very large area of possible remnant smoke, blowing dust/sand and other
unknown aerosols can be seen from Texas on northward through the Plains
states. With the numerous agricultural burns through Central America,
Mexico and through much of the central US over the past week or so,
along with the strong winds leading to many areas of blow dust/sand over
the past day or so, it is likely that this is all mixing together, with
other unknown aerosols, and this is what is being seen in this evening's
satellite imagery.





Blowing Dust:
Eastern Colorado:
A moderate area of blowing dust can be seen emanating from just east of
Pueblo, CO and moving towards the NE ahead. This is ahead of a strong
cold front in that region with strong down sloping winds.

White Sands Monument:
An area of blowing dust/sand can be seen in this evening's satellite
imagery originating from White Sands National Monument and moving towards
the east/northeast. This is due to strong southwesterly flow in that
region ahead of a cold frontal boundary.

North/Central New Mexico:
An area of blowing dust with possible sand is seen coming from just
to the south/southwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico and moving towards
the north/northeast.

Northern Chihuahua, Mexico:
A rather large area of blowing dust/sand can be seen coming from extreme
northern Chihuahua, Mexico and moving east/northeastward into portions
of southern New Mexico and southwest Texas. Again, this is due to strong
southwesterly winds in that region ahead of a strong cold front.

Western Texas/Panhandle of Texas:
An area of what appears to be blowing dust/sand possibly mixed with some
smoke can be seen moving towards the northeast into the Texas Panhandle
due to strong southwesterly flow throughout the region.

Southern California:
A small area of blowing dust/sand can be seen through extreme southern
California moving into portions of southwestern Arizona. This is most
likely due to the strong northwesterly flow in that region after the
frontal passage.

Eastern Montana/Western Dakotas:
An area of blowing dust that was mentioned earlier today is continuing
to be seen in this evening's satellite imagery. This area is moving
through eastern Montana and entering into areas of western North Dakota
and western South Dakota.



-Belge



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

 


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.