DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z April 16, 2012
Western Gulf of Mexico: Remnant thin smoke could be seen in visible imagery this morning streaming northward from southeast Mexico and Central America across the western Gulf of Mexico and southern Texas. This smoke is from numerous ag fires in those countries. Cloudiness obscured some of the smoke across the northwest Gulf of Mexico and the Texas coast. Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US: An area of aerosol believed to be remnant smoke could be seen off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast US. The smoke appeared thickest just northeast of Massachusetts. This smoke may have partially come from the wildfires burning in western Virginia although other sources could have contributed as well. Central US: Aerosol thought to be elevated dust extended from northeast Texas northeastward to central Missouri along a frontal boundary before disappearing beneath cloud cover. 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