DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z March 15, 2016
SMOKE: Western Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche: An area of thin density smoke was observed over the southwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Campeche. The source of this smoke is seasonal fire activity over portions of Mexico and Central America along with smoke from oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche. Further to the north over US waters, a hazy aerosol can be seen interspersed between broken cloud cover which may be additional smoke that has mixed with elevated dust particles off and along the Gulf Coast. Central US: A plume of thin remnant smoke could be seen stretching from eastern Texas northeastward to southern Missouri and far southern Illinois. Much of this smoke is believed to have come north from Mexico and the Bay of Campeche though numerous agricultural burns in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas yesterday likely contributed additional smoke. Southeast US: An area of thin smoke is progressing steadily east off the Southeast US coast. This smoke is probably from fires over the past two days in the Southeast US states. Additional aerosol closer to the North Carolina/South Carolina coast may be elevated dust that had progressed offshore. Florida Straits: A small patch of remnant smoke can be seen just north of western Cuba moving westward across the Straits of Florida. This smoke is either from fires yesterday in the Bahamas or from fires in Cuba. BLOWING DUST: Central Texas to East Kansas/North Missouri/East Iowa/Central Illinois: Blowing dust can be seen this morning moving the east and southeast across central and northern Texas where strong winds are blowing ahead of a frontal boundary. Stretching northeastward along/behind the boundary is elevated dust across Oklahoma, east Kansas, north Missouri as well as focused along a warm front over east Iowa/central Illinois. 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