DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z February 15, 2016
Western/Central Gulf of Mexico: An unknown aerosol could be seen in morning imagery over portions of the central and western Gulf of Mexico drifting generally north. While there were a few fires yesterday in far southern Texas/far northeast Mexico yesterday that could have produced smoke that has drifted north along the Texas coast, the bulk of this aerosol seems to be moving north from the Bay of Campeche. Significant smoke plumes were observed coming from offshore oil rigs in that region yesterday, which may have become mixed with other unknown aerosols as it moved north. Any smoke is too indistinct to be identified on its own though separate from other aerosol. Central/Western Texas: Strong north/northwesterly winds across Texas and Oklahoma behind a southward moving frontal boundary appear to have led to blowing elevated dust across central to west Texas. The dust probably originated from the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma based on the wind direction. Fires in northwest Texas/Oklahoma yesterday may have also contributed some smoke to the mix, but is likely a minimal part of the composure. 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