Thursday, May 10, 2012

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z May 11, 2012

Dust:
Northwest US:
A ribbon of suspected moderately dense dust from Asia was seen curling
southward over eastern British Columbia into extreme northeast Washington
and northern Idaho and across northwest Montana before turning to the
northeast into southeast Saskatchewan. A broader area of light and into
northern California.

Desert Southwest:
Blowing dust was being generated over the deserts of southern California
and southern Nevada by gusty winds. The dust covered much of southeast
California and extreme southern Nevada and adjoining areas of northwest
Arizona. Blowing dust was also seen over west central Sonora state in
northwest Mexico and was moving to the east.

Smoke:
Northern/Central Plains:
An area of remnant light smoke stretches from north to south and begins
in southeast North Dakota, extends into eastern Southern Dakota and into
northeast Nebraska.

J Kibler/Ruminski


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.