DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z March 30, 2015
SMOKE Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US Coast: An area of smoke possibly mixed with elevated dust could be seen stretching northeast from the Florida coast across the North Carolina Outer Banks to east of the Mid-Atlantic. Other remnant thin smoke could be seen over the Eastern Gulf. The smoke component of these areas of aerosol is believed to be from numerous fires in the Southeastern US yesterday. South Oklahoma/North Texas: An area of thin smoke was seen in GOES-W imagery this morning, mostly over southern Oklahoma but covering a small part of north central Texas before being covered by clouds. This smoke is believed to be mostly from fires in east Oklahoma yesterday. DUST Nebraska/Kansas/Oklahoma: An area of aerosol that may be blowing/elevated dust could be seen moving eastward across south Nebraska, west and central Kansas, and northwest Oklahoma this morning. While numerous fires were burning in east Oklahoma/east Kansas yesterday, most of that smoke should have lingered over those areas, moved east, or dissipated. Since no upstream fires are thought to have caused this area of aerosol, it appears likely that this is blowing dust but the exact source region is not known. Blowing dust was seen over southeast Colorado yesterday but had been seen moving south into the Texas Panhandle by 23Z yesterday. Wisconsin/Michigan/Indiana: An area of thin aerosol seen across east WI, Lake Michigan, southwest MI, and north IN is believed to be elevated dust particles. The aerosol was moving southeast this morning. Point source is not known. Central Pacific: Optically thick aerosol seen over the central Pacific well north of Hawaii roughly between 30N-42N and 140W-155W is believed to be Asian dust based on aerosol models. This dust is forecasted to continue eastward reaching the west coast by 12Z tomorrow behind the approaching frontal boundary. 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