DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z April 21, 2020
SMOKE: South Texas/Gulf of Mexico/Southern Mexico/Central America/Southwestern Caribbean Sea/Eastern Pacific... Widespread seasonal fire activity continues to persist across most of Southern Mexico and portions of Central America including the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, and Honduras. Moderate to thick density smoke was observed over most of the region from the widespread fire activity. A large region of light to moderate density smoke was also observed over the Southwestern/Southeastern Gulf of Mexico as well as over the Eastern Pacific Ocean South of Southern Mexico and the Southwestern Caribbean Sea North of Honduras. The light/moderate density smoke was also observed over portions of South Texas. The smoke appears to be continuing to progress Northward this morning/afternoon. South Florida/Northern Bahamas/Cuba... A large region of light density smoke was observed this morning with the latest GOES16 RGB Visible imagery across the South Florida Peninsula as well as over the Western Atlantic and Northern Bahamas. Seasonal fire activity was also observed over portions of Cuba with moderate to thick density smoke in the vicinity of fires and light density smoke further from the fire activity. The smoke from fire activity in Cuba is progressing Northward. The smoke over South Florida and the Northern Bahamas is due to smoke transport from widespread seasonal fire activity from Mexico, Central America, and Cuba. The smoke over South Florida and the Northern Bahamas is progressing Southeastward this morning/afternoon. A Sambucci THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF 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.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg GIS: ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/ KML: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire) http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke) ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov