DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z March 21, 2012
Central Great Lakes/Upper Midwest: An unknown aerosol possibly containing some remnant smoke and blowing dust can be seen moving northward through Illinois and southern Lake Michigan. This is most likely the same area seen earlier today over central Wisconsin. Southeastern US: Numerous agricultural fires today could be seen across the southeast US, but due to very cloudy afternoon and evening conditions across this area, as well as most of the country, not a whole lot of smoke could be seen. There were a few fires however that did produce enough smoke to be seen and with strong, southerly and southeasterly flow across this region, it was carried fairly far from its source point in some cases through northern/central Alabama/Georgia. -Belge Earlier Today: Wisconsin: An area of aerosol of unknown composition/origin can be seen moving north over central Wisconsin. Gulf of Mexico: An aerosol likely to be remnant dust or smoke can be seen over the western Gulf of Mexico. The full extent of the area can not be determined due to heavy cloudiness over the east coast of Texas. -Salemi THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS 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.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/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