DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z April 15, 2012
Western Gulf of Mexico/Southeastern Texas: Mainly thin density smoke was visible during the day moving northward across the Bay of Campeche and the western Gulf of Mexico into southern and southeastern Texas. Cloudiness over Texas interfered with determining the northern extent of the smoke. The smoke was due to the ongoing seasonal fires burning across portions of Mexico and Central America. Texas/New Mexico/Colorado/Oklahoma/Kansas/Northern Mexico: A significant blowing dust event began early in the day and continued to expand and intensify during the afternoon and evening. Satellite imagery showed a large area of moderately dense to thick density blowing dust moving to the northeast and originating from numerous point sources. The thicker dust covered southern and eastern New Mexico, western Texas from El Paso to Amarillo, and the northern portion of the Mexican state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. Thinner density blowing dust extended into western Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas, and southeastern Colorado. Southern California/Southwestern Arizona/Northwestern Mexico: Thin density blowing dust was observed moving to the east across far southern California, northern Baja, and southwestern Arizona. 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