DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0132Z May 19, 2012
Mississippi River Valley and Gulf Coast: High-level remnant light smoke from large Siberian fires stretched from the northern Gulf of Mexico to the central Mississippi River Valley. Arizona: Dust emanating from the southwestern Sonoran Desert extended across Maricopa and Pinal counties. Southwest Texas: Dust from northeastern Chihuahua (Mexico) extended northeast into southwestern Texas. Midwest/Great Lakes: Light remnant smoke from wildfires in the southwest was noted across the UP of Michigan and Lake Superior southwestward across much of the Midwest and Plains states. Eastern Canada: High-level remnant smoke from the Siberian fires was seen moving rapidly over Newfoundland and into the Atlantic. From earlier today... Alaska/Northwest Canada: High-level remnant smoke from large Siberian fires remains over Northwester Canada and Alaska. The smoke is not moving very much as it is caught up in some upper level weather systems present over the area. Central US/Midwest/Great Lakes: Light smoke is seen in morning imagery from eastern New Mexico, through northern Texas, continuing northward into Iowa and southern Minnesota before curing around through the Great Lakes and into the Midwest and Ohio Valley. This smoke is remnant smoke from wildfires in the southwest over the past several days. Ribbons of medium dense smoke are present over Texas/Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico as they are the most recent. Gulf of Mexico: An area of thin-density smoke could be seen this morning along the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The origin of this smoke is possibly due to the Siberian fires though other contributions are possible. The smoke continues to show very little progression with little steering from the calm synoptic setup current present over the area. 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