Wednesday, April 18, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z April 18, 2012

Mid-Atlantic:
Thin density remnant smoke was drifting off the Mid-Atlantic coast
of the US. It appeared to extend southward to east of North Carolina
before turning southeastward across the Atlantic although high clouds
were obscuring the aerosol. This area of remnant smoke was the result
of numerous fires in the eastern US over the past few days.

Gulf of Mexico:
An area of thin density smoke from was seen along a frontal boundary
over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, partially obscured by cloudiness. Some
remnant smoke also appeared to be present extending further southwest
under partial clouds towards the Yucatan Peninsula. This smoke is likely
from fires in Mexico/Central America and possibly also from Cuba.

Northwest Mexico:
Remnant thin smoke covered much of the higher terrain of northwestern
Mexico today. Numerous small fires burning yesterday in the Mexican
states of Durango, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua were the reason for this
remnant smoke and many were still producing smoke this morning.

Central US/Midwest:
Aerosol believed to be mostly elevated dust covered much of the Central
US states from northern Texas northward to Kansas/Nebraska and northeast
across Iowa/Missouri/Arkansas/Illinois/south Wisconsin/Michigan and
Indiana.

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

 


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.