DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z April 25, 2012
Gulf of Mexico: Thin remnant smoke from a fire in coastal MS last evening moved south across the Central Gulf overnight... since then the smoke plume as bifurcated based on difference in height. Low level smoke extends from the mouth of the Mississippi River NE across to Pensacola, FL. Mid level smoke extends south then southwest from about 20 km SE of the Mississippi Delta to just past 90W about 230km south of LA. Deep South: A narrow band of very thin smoke could only be seen very early in the morning at steep sun angle across central GA, South Central AL into the coastal counties of MS. This area was likely from other fires burning across TX, LA and MS last night. New England: An area of unknown aerosol (possibly sulfates based on forecast models) can be seen off shore of New England and covering Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. This area is moving due east behind an old cold front or sfc boundary and extends to the south along 70W as far south as 38N. Great Lakes: An very narrow (20km wide) band of very thin unknown aerosol (possible Asian dust) is at a very high altitude that extends from Hudson Bay across E Ontario, across Lake Erie into N and C PA and Western NY. The SW portion is moving rapidly ESE but is becoming difficult to see at higher sun angles. New Mexico/W Texas: What looks like remnant smoke from fires in southern NM, the West Texas Panhandle and possible fires in N Chihuahua in Mexico can be seen in early Goes-West imagery slowly drifting Eastward across the Plains of SE NM into the southern CapRock and western TX panhandle toward the Big Bend Region. It is possible though unlikely there is mixed dust and sand within this area of aerosols. Gallina 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