DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0145Z May 31, 2009

Mid Atlantic Coast:
A patch of thin remnant smoke was seen drifting east off the New Jersey
coast into the Atlantic ocean. This is likely smoke, possibly mixed with
haze, from fires in the northern Plains over the past several days.

Lake Superior:
An area of remnant smoke was detected over much of Lake Superior and
adjacent areas of Michigan and southern Canada. This is possibly smoke
from a large fire that was observed yesterday on the front range of the
Rockies in southwest Alberta that produced a notable smoke plume.

Western Canada into the Pacific:
The area of unknown aerosol noted in the morning narrative was now
seen extending from central Saskatchewan back to the southwest into
southern Alberta and then to the west across the southern half of British
Columbia. A separate area of unknown aerosol was seen in the northeast
Pacific over and to the west of Queen Charlotte Island slowly drifting
to the south. The source and type of both of these aerosol regions
is unknown.

Gulf of Mexico:
Remnant smoke from the Mexican and Guatemala fires continues to be
observed across the southern Gulf of Mexico, mainly confined to an area
south of about 24N and west of 85W with the thickest smoke area in the
Bay of Campeche.



Ruminski


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

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.