Monday, May 8th, 2017

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z May 9, 2017

SMOKE:
Florida/Far Southeastern Georgia/Northeastern Gulf of Mexico/Western
Atlantic...
The West Mims Wildfire along the Florida/Georgia border in the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge once again flared up this afternoon resulting in
a swath of dense smoke which spread to the southeast over northeastern
Florida and offshore over the Atlantic. Leftover thin density smoke
from this fire also covered a large region including a portion of the
northeastern Gulf of Mexico and much of the Florida peninsula along with
the western Atlantic off the eastern coast of Florida.

Southeastern US...
In addition to the West Mims Wildfire, numerous other fires which were
believed to be mainly seasonal burning were scattered over Alabama,
Georgia, and the Carolinas. A number of thin to locally moderately
dense smoke plumes were visible emanating from these fires and quickly
spreading to the southeast with some plumes merging to form relatively
larger areas of smoke.

Gulf of Mexico and Bay of Campeche...
Ongoing seasonal fires in southeastern Mexico and Central America were
responsible for a large mass of mainly thin density smoke which spread
northward over the Bay of Campeche and the western Gulf of Mexico possibly
reaching the coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana.

DUST:
Arizona...
A swath of moderately dense blowing dust originated from the Cochise
Playa in southeastern Arizona and fanned out as it moved to the north.

Remainder of the Southwestern US...
Significant cloudiness over much of the Southwestern US greatly limited
dust detection in satellite imagery.

UNKNOWN AEROSOL:
Nevada/Idaho...
A stripe of thin density aerosol of unknown origin and composition was
present stretching from north central Nevada to the northeast across
south central Idaho.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.