DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z April 17, 2014
SMOKE Gulf of Mexico: A surge of smoke appears to be gathering over the southwest Gulf of Mexico and is beginning to lift north into the west central portion of the Gulf. Extensive cloud cover inhibits a good sense of the extent of the smoke which is originating from the seasonal agricultural burning in Central America. BLOWING DUST Texas/New Mexico: An area of light blowing dust was seen originating over far northern Chihuahua near the New Mexico border this evening and was moving to the east. Additional very light blowing dust was seen further east over extreme southeast New Mexico and moving to the east into adjoining areas of Texas around Midland. Northwest Canada: An uncertain light aerosol was seen along the central/northern Alberta/British Columbia border extending into western Northwest Territory before sunset in the low sun angle. A NASA aerosol model suggests that the aerosol may be either sulfates or dust or possibly a mix of both. Ruminski 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