DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1545Z MARCH 23, 2009
Middle Atlantic/Southeastern US to the Ohio Valley: A swath of haze was seen this morning in visible satellite imagery extending from the coastal regions of southern Virginia and the Carolinas westward across the central Appalachians and northwestward to at least as far west as the Ohio Valley. Cloudiness over the western portion of the area limited analysis of the western extent of this haze. This area of haze was along and ahead of a frontal boundary and may contain some remnant smoke from the fires burning across the Southeastern and South Central U.S. during the past several days. Southwestern/Central US: Blowing dust is visible this morning spreading eastward over northern New Mexico, the northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma panhandle region, and northeastward over a good portion of Kansas and Nebraska. Cloudiness farther to the north and east over the Central and Northern Plains limited additional information on the extent of the blowing dust. Another swath of blowing dust/sand was observed moving to the east from the White Sands region of south central New Mexico. This particular area of blowing dust reached western Texas (just west of Lubbock) by late morning. JS THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html GIS: http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm KML: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov