Thursday, February 20, 2014

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1615Z February 20, 2014

Southeast US:
A small patch of remnant thin smoke was barely visible off the coast
of the Carolinas along a frontal boundary. Some of this smoke is from
yesterday's smoke-producing fires in Georgia/Florida while some may be
smoke from fires 2-3 days ago in those states.

Gulf of Mexico:
An thin unknown aerosol could again be seen over the western and
northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The aerosol generally seemed to be drifting
northward.

Southern Plains:
An expansive area of blowing dust could be seen moving south and
southeast across the Texas Panhandle and northwest Texas, southwest to
northeast Oklahoma, southeast Kansas, and far southwest Missouri. Very
strong surface winds with speeds of 30-40mph and stronger gusts are
prevalent across much of the region today as an upper level low swings
northeastward across Kansas. These strong winds are the cause for the
large blowing dust event.

Sheffler

THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF 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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.