DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z March 18, 2013
Western Gulf of Mexico: Possible patches of thin density smoke were visible moving to the north and northwest over the western Gulf of Mexico. This aerosol is likely a combination of smoke and other pollutants which have been transported from southeastern Mexico over the Bay of Campeche and into the western Gulf of Mexico. Some of this aerosol appears to have moved inland over southeastern and southern Texas. Southeastern US: Widespread cloudiness was present over much of the Southeastern US during the day which limited fire and smoke detection in satellite imagery. Numerous fires and smoke plumes had been detected in this region over the past several days. BLOWING DUST/SAND: Southern New Mexico/Southwestern Texas: Moderately dense to locally dense blowing dust moved to the east and southeast over southern New Mexico, southwestern Texas, and northern Mexico during the afternoon. The primary source regions were located over south central and southwestern New Mexico and northern Mexico just south of the New Mexico border. Southeastern Colorado: Enough clearing took place just prior to sunset to allow for some blowing dust to be seen over southeastern Colorado. Southern Wyoming/Northeastern Colorado/Western Nebraska: A swath of mainly thin density blowing dust was visible moving to the east from south central and southeastern Wyoming over western Nebraska and far northeastern Colorado. Oregon/Nevada: A stripe of thin density blowing dust/sand moved to the southeast across southeastern Oregon during the late afternoon. Also, a couple of thin to moderate density streaks of blowing dust moved to the southeast from source points in west central and southeastern Nevada. Utah: Thin density blowing dust/sand moved to the south over western Utah from sources in northwestern and western Utah. JS Earlier this morning... US East Coast/Atlantic: An area of residual light smoke from fires burning across the Southeast yesterday has moved off the coast and into the Atlantic. The smoke stretches from just off North Carolina south to northern Georgia coastline. 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