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