Saturday, May 19, 2018

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE
IMAGERY THROUGH 0300, May 20, 2018.

SMOKE:
Southern New Mexico and Western Texas...
Fires located across northern Mexico and southern New Mexico have
been producing thick smoke this afternoon. This smoke has made its way
east-northeast into west Texas and southern New Mexico.

Central California...
A fire on what appears to be either Browns Island or Winter Island just
east of the San Francisco Bay area has been emitting light smoke for
much of the day. This smoke was observed moving eastward across the San
Joaquin Valley and into the central Sierras.

Southern California...
Burns across the agricultural areas south of the Salton Sea produced
a few puffs of smoke this afternoon. This smoke was generally moving
toward the north.

South Central Canada...
From central Alberta into western Ontario, many burns were observed
emitting mainly light smoke. However, two fires in central Saskatchewan
were observed emitting thick smoke this afternoon. This smoke was
generally moving off toward the east-southeast.

BLOWING DUST:
Western Texas Panhandle...
Along with the smoke mentioned above, some blowing dust was observed
moving from north-central Chihuahua into the West Texas Panhandle.

Southern California...
A few of the valleys in southern California were seen producing blowing
dust later this afternoon. Some of this dust was likely mixing in with
the smoke observed in southern California.

OTHER AEROSOL:
Central Alaksa...
Across central Alaska near Delta Junction and Allen Army Airfield
(PABI), satellites captured what appears to be an aerosol of glacial
origin blowing north from the Alaska Range.

Hosley


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.