DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z February 23, 2016
SMOKE: Western Gulf of Mexico/Southern Texas: A combination of thin density smoke from oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche and seasonal fires burning in Mexico spread northward over the western Gulf of Mexico reaching into far southern Texas by late in the day. Central US: Numerous fires along with more than 2 dozen visible smoke plumes of primarily thin density were seen over central and eastern Kansas, western Missouri, and especially central to eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas. BLOWING DUST: South Central and Southeastern Arizona/Southwestern New Mexico/Western Texas/Northern Mexico: Mainly thin density blowing dust was visible moving to the southeast from numerous source regions across a broad region extending from south central Arizona over southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, western Texas, and the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua. The most significant portion of the dust which was emanating from source points across northern Chihuahua in northern Mexico and over western Texas just south of El Paso resulted in a rather significant patch of thin to locally moderately dense dust. The dust event started to become visible in satellite imagery just after 18Z and continued until sunset. Southeastern California/Southwestern Arizona: More thin density blowing dust was seen originating from sources in the desert regions of interior southeastern California and spreading southward over southeastern California and southwestern Arizona. 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