DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z May 29, 2012
Currently: Central US/Eastern US: The remnant smoke from the Baldy-Whitewater fire in New Mexico continues to move northward/eastward and extends north into Ohio, Michigan and east into western New York and Pennsylvania. The southern extent of the smoke is now reaching farther south into the central Gulf of Mexico. Another area of moderately dense smoke associated with the Baldy-Whitewater is seen stretching sw/ne across northern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and western/central Missouri. Earlier Today: Southeast Canada: An area of aerosol that is believed to be elevated dust particles could be seen stretching from James Bay southeastward across Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes, passing over portions of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the waters between them. Western/Northwestern Canada: A large amount of remnant smoke covered much of Alberta, northwest Saskatchewan, extreme northeast British Columbia, and southern/central Northwest Territories. This smoke was mostly from two wildfires in northern Alberta. Central/Eastern US: Remnant smoke from the Baldy-Whitewater fire in New Mexico covers much of the eastern two thirds of the US extending as far north as Minnesota and Lake Michigan, as far east as Lake Ontario and the Northeast US coast, and as far south as the central Gulf of Mexico. It also could be seen wrapping into Tropical Depression Beryl over north Florida. This smoke was generally of thin density except for over the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandles and close to the wildfire in southwest New Mexico. Moderate density smoke was also present from the northern Gulf north to western Kentucky as a result of ag fires burning along the Mississippi River Valley yesterday, which only added to the smoke content. In addition to smoke, aerosol seen over portions of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and South Dakota is thought to be elevated dust, although the source is not known. J Kibler 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