DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 10245Z May 16, 2017
SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico into Texas... There was little change in the smoke coverage as seen this morning over the Gulf. This evening, light density remnant smoke was visible over the Bay of Campeche and the western Gulf and adjacent areas of the Mexican coast. The smoke also extended over the northern Yucatan Peninsula and the western portion of the Yucatan Channel. The smoke was also being carried into southern Texas where it became difficult to discern. An area of aerosol had accumulated along a dryline over West Texas into the Texas Panhandle. The aerosol was likely a mix of light blowing dust and remnant smoke from the Mexican fires. Mid Atlantic and off the Coast.... An elongated area of light remnant smoke has accumulated in a channel extending from central North Carolina southeastward off the southeast coast of NC and then curving to the east and out into the open Atlantic. Northern Plains.... A diffuse area of light remnant smoke from the agricultural burning in the northern Plains and southern Canadian prairies was seen this evening over southeast SD, northeast NE, southwest MN and northwest IA. However the exact boundary was quite uncertain due to the diffuse nature of the smoke. DUST: Arizona/New Mexico/Southern California/Northern Mexico.... A plume of moderately dense to dense blowing dust was observed coming from the Willcox Playa in southeast Arizona throughout the day and moving to the northeast. By sunset the northern extent of this plume had reached into northwest New Mexico. A more broad and diffuse area of light blowing dust was detected over northeast Arizona and spreading to the northeast to the four corners area. A plume of light blowing dust was seen extending from White Sands in south central New Mexico to the northeast across the Sacramento mountains intoeast central New Mexico. Several sources of light blowing dust were seen over the loose and sandy soils of northern Chihuahua and moving to the east toward the El Paso area. An area of light to moderately dense blowing dust was sweeping out of the deserts of far southeast California and into extreme northwest Sonora and southwest Arizona. Ruminski 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