DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z April 23, 2018
SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche... A large region of thin density aerosol which is likely composed of smoke from seasonal fires occurring over portions of Mexico and Central America and smoke from oil rig flaring in the Bay of Campeche covered much of the Bay of Campeche and extended to the north and northeast over a portion of the western and central Gulf of Mexico. It is not known if any of the smoke extended into the Southeastern US due to cloud cover in the region. Western Texas... The leading edge of thinner density smoke from a large fire in north central Mexico spread quickly to the east reaching into western Texas between El Paso and the Big Bend region. Central US... Many fires were detected across the area stretching from eastern Nebraska across Iowa to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois though little smoke was visible due to interference from thinner clouds moving over the area. Farther to the south and southeast, significant cloudiness from a large storm system prevented fire and smoke detection in satellite imagery. South Central Canada... A cluster of fires in southern Manitoba of south central Canada resulted in a swath of thin to moderate density smoke which moved quickly to the east-northeast over western Ontario. DUST/UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Northwestern US/Western Canada... A thin density aerosol became visible during the late afternoon with the favorable lower sun angle over a large area stretching from western Alberta and British Columbia southward over northern Idaho, Washington, Oregon, northwestern Nevada, and northern California. It is possible that this aerosol is from long range blowing dust transported aloft from desert regions in Asia. 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