DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z April 17, 2012
Western Gulf of Mexico: Remnant thin smoke continued to be visible during the day streaming northward from southeast Mexico and Central America across the western Gulf of Mexico and into southern Texas. Cloudiness along the Texas and Louisiana coast interfered with determining how far inland the smoke reached. This smoke is from numerous seasonal fires in burning in Mexico and Central America. Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US: An area of aerosol believed to be at least partly composed of remnant smoke could be seen across the Northeastern US from eastern Pennsylvania to southern Maine as well as offshore of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. This smoke may be partially attributed to the wildfires burning in western Virginia although other sources could have contributed as well. Closer to the wildfires in western Virginia, moderately dense to locally dense smoke moved mainly to the east during the day. The smoke became thinner as it fanned out farther to the east over central and eastern Virginia, Washington DC, and eastern and southern Maryland. JS Earlier This Morning... 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