DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 20, 2012
Northern Mexico/Southern and Central Plains/Mississippi Valley/Great Lakes Region: Large plume of thin-density remnant smoke is seen extending from Northern Mexico then north and east across Mississippi River Valley/portions of Ohio River Valley across western and central Great Lakes and over eastern Ontario and western Quebec provinces of Canada. This remnant smoke plume appears to be drifting slowly east and north ahead of a surface cold frontal boundary that is draped south-west to north-east across the central U.S. Plume is believed to be the result of several different source areas, which include numerous agricultural fires detected yesterday in the lower Mississippi Valley region, ongoing seasonal fires in northern and western Mexico and leftover smoke from Siberian fires that tracked east across northern Pacific and then over western North America. Arizona: Area of remnant smoke from what appears to have originated from the Gladiator fire in central Arizona is seen spreading north, west and south from the location of the fire. Recently produced smoke can also be seen in first few images of GOES-West this morning. Western Canada/Northern Plains: Thin to locally moderately dense remnant smoke from the Siberian fires was observed moving to southeast across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and western Manitoba provinces in Western Canada. This smoke plume is also seen extending further south and east across portions of eastern Montana, North and South Dakota, eastern Nebraska and Kansas. Northeastern Alaska/Northern Yukon: Area of thin-density aerosol is noted across northeastern Alaska and northern portions of Yukon province and northwester Canada. It is believed that this aerosol is also the result of remnant smoke from Siberian fires that has tracked eastward across the northern Pacific. Aerosol plume appears to be drifting slowly north and east. Warren 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