April 10, 2008
Clearing in the East & dense cloud cover in the Midwest/Central U.S
There has been some clearing in the East. However, dense cloud cover (left image) exists over the Midwest/Central U.S. Haze mixed with clouds is visible over Maryland (right image); surface monitors measured moderate PM2.5 concentrations (EPA AIRNow). Also, it is still hazy over Southern Texas (particularly noticeable over the Gulf - see left image). As mentioned yesterday, this is likely smoke transported from Mexico and Central America. Other states with moderate air quality reports include California, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and parts of the Southeast.
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*Images sourced from -> UW MODIS Today USA Composite
It's tough to pick out on the MODIS true color imagery at the time...but there was a major plume of blowing dust forming in eastern NM and western TX. The flow around a large storm system in the central US then brought this dust as far north as Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where "dirty rain" and "dirty snow" was reported by several people on 11 April -- see our CIMSS Satellite Blog:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/639
Posted by: Scott Bachmeier at April 14, 2008 1:00 PMHi Scott…
Thank you for the comment! Yes, in the true color image I couldn’t see much since the cloud cover was so dense. I looked at the NRL NAAPS site ( -> http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/flambe/temp/F24361_noramer.html ) and their model showed a similar result. I also went hunting for some LIDAR data in the Central U.S., but none is available relative to this event.