Saturday, May 17, 2014

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z May 18, 2014

SMOKE:
Southern Canada / North central US:
Numerous agricultural burns in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba from
today and days prior have collectively produced an area of light density
smoke extending from the southern portion of said provinces, mainly moving
south and southeast into North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is
likely some dust / aerosol contribution in this area as well. The exact
extent of this aerosol mix is not well defined due to extensive clouds
in the region.

Arizona/New Mexico/Texas:
An area of remnant light density smoke from the Skunk fire in southeast
Arizona was seen drifting eastward across West Texas from near Ft
Stockton and Pecos reaching to near Brady in central Texas. A new surge
of moderate to dense smoke from today's burning extended from the fire
east and southeast covering much of the southwest quarter of New Mexico.

DUST:
Another round of blowing dust was seen being kicked up late this afternoon
and evening in western Nevada. The source region was the Carson Sink /
Humboldt Lake area. This dust was moving to the east into central Nevada.

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

 


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.