DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z May 17, 2015
SMOKE: Western Canada: Several areas of remnant smoke were seen in western Canada this afternoon/evening in GOES-13/GOES-15 visible satellite imagery. An area of light density residual smoke from Asia fires along with light density residual smoke from wildfires in northern British Columbia was seen in northeastern British Columbia, southern Northwest Territories and northern Alberta. Heavy smoke continues to emit from a wildfire southwest of Prince George near Little Bobtail Lake and a heavy smoke plume associated with this wildfire is moving to the southwest. Light density remnant smoke from this wildfire can be seen along the coast of British Columbia across the Strait of Georgia and into Vancouver Island. Low level clouds obscure the full extent of this area of remnant smoke. Gulf of Mexico/Texas/Louisiana: A large area of light density remnant smoke was detected in the western Gulf of Mexico moving NNW into eastern Texas and Louisiana. This area of remnant smoke originated from seasonal burning in Central America and oil exploration in the Gulf of Campeche. DUST: Texas: An area of blowing dust was observed from Andrews county in southwestern Texas to Wheeler county in northern Texas. Winds increased up to 25-30 knots in western Texas behind a dry line in central Texas, which picked up dry topsoil and carried it to the northeast. -Cronin 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