DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z November 18, 2015
BLOWING DUST: Western Texas: A swath of very thin density blowing dust was visible moving from a source region south of Midland TX eastward to central TX between Waco and San Antonio. Northwest Mexico/Baja/Gulf of California: An area of thin density blowing dust originating from source regions over northeastern Baja and northwestern Mexico moved to the south and over the northern portion of the Gulf of California. SMOKE: Cloudiness was extensive across the Western US as well as the Central and Southeastern US which limited fire and smoke detection in satellite imagery. Only a handful of small thin density smoke plumes were visible with the numerous fires detected across central and northern North Dakota. JS 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