DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z March 28, 2014
Southeastern US: The most numerous fires and associated smoke plumes detected in satellite imagery were visible in a relatively less cloud covered area stretching from Alabama to the Carolinas. Most of the smoke plumes were of mainly light density and were moving in a northerly direction. Some of the plumes had merged together by the end of the day forming larger patches of thin density smoke. Please refer to the web pages listed below for a graphical depiction of the smoke for additional information. Southwestern Gulf of Mexico: Areas of thin density smoke from seasonal fires burning in southeastern Mexico and Central America and from flares burning atop rigs in the southern Bay of Campeche were seen across portions of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Blowing Dust... California: A couple of streaks of thin density dust originated from sources in the interior portion of south central California after 21Z and moved to the east-southeast. An area of primarily thin density blowing dust originated from sources in southern California near and south of the Salton Sea and spread eastward into southwestern Arizona just before sunset. Northern Mexico/Western Texas: Thin density blowing dust originated from sources just south of the New Mexico-Mexico border around 21Z and moved to the east crossing into western Texas south of El Paso. New Mexico: A small patch of blowing dust was seen moving to the east from the White Sands area of south central New Mexico after 21Z. Northwestern Texas to Missouri: Blowing dust seen earlier this morning continued to emanate from numerous source points in northwestern Texas. This large swath of thin density blowing dust spread to the east and northeast across a good portion of Oklahoma and over southeastern Kansas and into southwestern and central Missouri. Western to Central Texas: Even more blowing dust originating from sources to the north and northeast of Midland, Texas after 19Z moved to the east and east-northeast nearly reaching the Dallas-Ft. Worth area just before sunset. JS Earlier this Morning... Southern Plains: Multiple dust events are visible in satellite imagery this morning in the Southern Plains. First visible at approximately 1400Z, a plume is visible at the New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma border moving SE into central Texas. A second area of plumes are visible south at the New Mexico/Texas border near Portales, NM moving eastward. The third and most dense area of plumes is visible near Artesia, NM moving eastward into the southern Texas panhandle. Maine: An area of light density unknown aerosols are visible moving up the Maine coast in the Atlantic Ocean, with the most dense areas affecting the Maine Mid-Coast region. The aerosols are first visible in GOES-E at 1315Z and continue NE towards Nova Scotia and New Brunswick via the Bay of Fundy. Oegerle 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