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