Saturday, April 14, 2018

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2000Z April 14, 2018

SMOKE:
Central US...
Large wildfires continue to burn in Dewey and Jackson counties in Oklahoma
spreading moderate-density smoke towards the southeast Oklahoma. A large
area of lighter-density smoke entered the lower pressure circulation
centered in the state of Kansas and is currently covering the western
half of Arkansas and moving further away towards the northeast.

Florida...
Several agricultural fires were observed south of Lake Okeechobee
generating mostly light-density smoke being transported towards the
north-northwest and over the lake.

Gulf of Mexico...
A large plume consisting of light density smoke was observed covering the
majority of the central and western Gulf waters - cloud coverage prevents
smoke visualization off the Texas and Louisiana coastlines. The smoke
is originating from seasonal fires across central-south Mexico and the
Yucatan peninsula. A secondary smoke plume was observed covering most
of Belize and surrounding areas originating from additional seasonal
fires in Honduras.

WS


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.