DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z March 12, 2014
Central US: A large area of blowing dust/sand originates in eastern Colorado and most of Kansas. This dust is moving to the south into northeastern New Mexico, throughout most of Oklahoma and into the pan handle of Texas. The area of dust was first observed ~1700Z and continues through sunset. Central Texas: Another area of blowing dust/sand originates in west-central Texas. This area began moving to the east but as the evening continues and up till sunset, the area has started to move more southeastward East Coast: The large area of light smoke from the previous days' agricultural burns in the southeastern US persists off the east coast and continues to move east over the Atlantic Ocean. -Salemi Earlier: Southeast US: A large area of thin smoke could be seen spreading eastward off the coast of the Southeast US this morning. Numerous agricultural fires burning there over the last few days are the cause of this smoke. Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas/Louisiana: An area of thin smoke and possibly other aerosols was seen this morning over northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma, northwest Louisiana, and Arkansas. Numerous ag burns in the central US yesterday were the likely origin of this smoke. Texas Panhandle/West Texas: An area of blowing dust could be seen moving southward and southeastward across the Texas Panhandle this morning. Blowing dust was also observed over western Texas just to the southwest of Midland, TX moving to the southeast and east. Southeast Colorado/Western Kansas: Several large plumes of blowing dust/sand were observed over southeast Colorado and far western Kansas moving to the south towards the Oklahoma Panhandle. Strong northerly surface winds of 30-35kts behind a cold front were causing the 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.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/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