DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 20, 2013
CURRENTLY: Gulf of Mexico: The large area of thin density smoke over the Gulf of Mexico (see full description below from earlier today) continued to be visible this evening. Smoke was drifting northeastward toward the Texas Gulf coast throughout the day. LP EARLIER TODAY: Gulf of Mexico/Southern Texas: A large area of thin aerosol covered most of the Gulf of Mexico this morning. Some of this aerosol over the northern Gulf of Mexico that was mixed with scattered clouds appeared thicker and was believed to be mostly remnant smoke, likely from the Yucatan Peninsula and/or Cuba. Some of this aerosol could also be seen over southern Texas, though it could be that the remnant smoke had mixed with dust in this area. Sheffler 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