DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0232Z April 20, 2012
Southern and Central Plains/Northern Mexico: A large area of thin remnant smoke extended from northern Mexico northeastward across Texas/Oklahoma/east Kansas/northwest Arkansas/and Missouri as it is being drawn into the storm system over the Central Plains. The bulk of this smoke is from fires that have been burning in northwest Mexico over the last several days. An area of blowing dust can be seen originating from Chihuahua, Mexico blowing east/southeast through the El Paso area in southwest Texas. Eastern Gulf of Mexico: A plume of thin remnant smoke, probably mixed with other aerosols, was visible over the eastern Gulf today mainly along a frontal boundary. The smoke/aerosols extended from the Yucatan Peninsula northeastward and likely came from fires in Mexico/Central America. Western/South Central Canada: An aerosol that may be elevated dust particles from Asia could be seen stretching from western Northwest Territories southeast across Canada crossing portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario before disappearing due to cloudiness over central Ontario. Sheffler/Vogt 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