DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z April 6, 2015
SMOKE Southern Gulf Of Mexico: A large area of light density remnant smoke was seen moving west-northwest in the southern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon/evening. The smoke originated from today's and yesterday's agricultural burns in the the Yucatan Peninsula and light density aerosol, likely smoke, from oil rigs in the southern Gulf of Mexico. DUST Utah: A small area of blowing dust/sand was seen in western Utah this afternoon in GOES-13 satellite imagery. The plume of dust/sand originated from a dry lake bed, Sevier Lake, in Millard county Utah as southwesterly winds increased to +25 knots this afternoon. Upper and middle level clouds currently obscure the source region but dust/sand was last seen moving to the northeast. California: A large area of elevated dust that originated from Asia was seen in southern California and continues to move to the southeast. Earlier Today... SMOKE Midwest US: A mixed plume of light to medium density smoke was visible this morning in satellite imagery moving eastward extending from Iowa, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This smoke originates from the large amount of prescribed agricultural burning that took place yesterday and earlier this week in the Central Plains and Midwest region. DUST California: A large plume of Asian dust is visible moving across the Pacific SE approaching the southern California coast this morning. AEROSOLS Northeast US: A large plume of unknown aerosols were seen moving eastward into the Atlantic Ocean extending from Massachusetts as far south as Maryland. The plumes are first visible at 1145Z and continue until 1545Z in GOES-E imagery. Canadian/US Border: Large plumes of unknown aerosols were seen moving SE from Manitoba and Ontario down into Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Plumes begin at 1230Z and continue until 1500Z in GOES-W imagery. 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