DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z April 19, 2017
SMOKE: Kansas...More seasonal burning occurring in and near the Flint Hills region of eastern Kansas was responsible for numerous smoke plumes of mainly thin density which moved to the north with some combining to form a larger area of smoke centered over eastern Kansas. Northeastern Gulf of Mexico/Florida Panhandle...An area of leftover thin density smoke attributed to recent fire activity over Florida possibly including the fire near the Georgia-Florida border in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was seen moving to the west during the day over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and a portion of the Florida panhandle. Northern Mexico/Western Texas...A large fire near the border of the Mexican states Sonora and Chihuahua in northern Mexico produced a large smoke plume which fanned out as it moved to the east with the thinner density leading edge of the plume nearly reaching the Texas border southeast of El Paso. Bay of Campeche/Southwestern Gulf of Mexico...A region of thin density smoke attributed to the ongoing seasonal burning occurring over portions of Southeastern Mexico and Central America was noted over the Bay of Campeche and the far western and southwestern Gulf of Mexico. DUST: Southern California/Western Arizona/Southern Nevada/Southern Utah/Northwestern Mexico...A swath of thin density aerosol which was likely composed mainly of blowing dust was present extending in a southwest to northeast axis from northwestern Mexico (northern Baja) over southeastern California, western Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern Utah. Specific point sources for the blowing dust were difficult to pick out within this area during the day due to patchy cloudiness. Southeastern Arizona...A rather small narrow stripe of blowing dust was visible moving eastward from a source in northern Cochise County of southeastern Arizona. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: North Central to Eastern Pacific/Coastal Washington/Coastal Oregon/Northwestern California...The area of unknown aerosol discussed earlier this morning spread a bit further inland over western Washington, western Oregon and northern California with the trailing portions stretching well to the southwest into the north central Pacific Ocean. This aerosol has likely been transported from Asia and is possibly a combination of both dust and smoke. Northeastern Mexico/Southwestern Texas...A relatively small patch of aerosol was visible spreading to the northwest and nearing the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas just prior to sunset. It is not known for certain the composition of this aerosol though remnant blowing dust is definitely a possibility. 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