DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z February 15, 2022
SMOKE: Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley/Southeast U.S… An area of light to moderate remnant smoke was observed across the central and southern thirds of the eastern half of the CONUS as day broke. This area extends from the WI/IL border to central Texas to the TN/VA border to northern Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. The moderate areas of remnant smoke reside over the northern Gulf of Mexico, central MS and AL, and the Ozarks. Due to cloud cover, the southeastward extent is uncertain and could, in fact, be one large area with the other areas of smoke/aerosol across the Gulf of Mexico (see below). The remnant smoke over the Plains and Mississippi Valley has been moving around an area of high pressure, so smoke is moving NE over the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, north over OK/AR, and northwest over LA and MS. Within the large area of remnant smoke, numerous active smoke plumes were also observed from Oklahoma and Texas into Florida, the Carolinas, and Virginia. The smoke from these plumes that have persisted overnight and/or restarted this morning has mainly been light with one or two producing moderate density smoke. The entire area is under the influence of a large high pressure area at the surface centered over TN/KY, so smoke from the Carolinas into Alabama has been moving east while smoke over eastern TX and LA has been moving N to NW and smoke over eastern OK and AR has been moving N to NNE. Further active smoke plumes are suspected across the Florida Panhandle given the appearance of moderate density smoke emerging from beneath the cloud deck. This is based on the one smoke plume that is visible in the Florida Panhandle has veered from moving south-southwest to west-southwest, which would draw the smoke out from under the cloud deck. There is also a possibility smoke exists across the rest of Florida, but there is less certainty in that assertion. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... An expansive area of what is believed to be a combination of smoke from agricultural burning, gas flaring activity, and aerosols from other sources is present across the southern Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean, portions of coastal Mexico and Central America, and the Pacific Ocean. The area seen likely originates in the western Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico and extends westward into the Bay of Campeche where it is funneled southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and into the Pacific Ocean. From there, minor contributions are likely made from coastal areas of Mexico and far western Guatemala. More significant contributions are also made from burning across Central America as evidenced by the higher density smoke/aerosol extending off the Nicaraguan Coast than that off the Salvadoran and central and eastern Guatemalan coasts. The exact western extent of the smoke/aerosol layer in the tropical pacific is uncertain due to the presence of some clouds and the lack of daylight at the time of analysis. Hosley 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