DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z February 18, 2013
Western Gulf of Mexico: An area of light, remnant smoke can be seen moving towards the north/northwest near shore over the northwestern portion of the Gulf of Mexico this evening. Numerous fires that were producing a lot of smoke yesterday that had moved southward into the Gulf, is likely getting circulated back towards the coast with High pressure in control over the region. Central California: An area of unknown aerosols possibly mixed with some light smoke can be seen through the central portion of California tonight. Fires burning through north/central California today and the past few days have likely led to some mix of light smoke through this region. Blowing Dust/Sand: An area of blowing dust or sand could be seen coming from a dry lake bed in southwest Nevada near Tonopah, Nevada. Windy conditions in this region have led to this area of blowing sand/dust to move towards the southeast towards the Arizona border this evening. -Belge 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