DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0156Z March 31, 2022
SMOKE: South Central and eastern U.S./Mid-Atlantic Region/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico… Significant cloud cover is present over a large part of the eastern half of the U.S. which greatly limits the ability to detect any smoke from satellite imagery which may be present in this area. Through some breaks in the clouds, a patch of light density smoke from large wind whipped wildfires in northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma was seen moving mainly to the southeast and was mixing with blowing dust in the region. Farther to the east, an area of thin to moderate density smoke attributed primarily to recent rounds of seasonal fire activity and a few Spring season wildfires occurring over portions of the South Central and Southeastern U.S. was visible through breaks in the clouds extending from northeastern U.S. and south to Florida extending offshore of the eastern U.S. coast. Additionally, a large area of thin to moderate density smoke linked to ongoing significant seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America had spread to the north and covered much of the Gulf of Mexico and over the southern and southeastern Texas and the central Gulf Coast region. The moderate density smoke was located more over the western/central Gulf of Mexico and extended southward down into southern Mexico and the Bay of Campeche. Over northeastern Mexico, southern, the western Gulf of Mexico, some smoke from the larger wildfires in southern Texas and western Oklahoma and blowing dust was likely mixing in with the smoke being transported north from Mexico. Cloud cover farther inland over the south central and southeastern U.S. prevented information on the northward extent of the smoke over the U.S. from satellite imagery. Texas… Three large wildfire complexes were seen in southern Texas emitting moderate to heavy smoke that was moving southeast over the Gulf of Mexico as evening approached. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... A broad region light to moderate density smoke from seasonal fire activity mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was observed covering a large part of southern, eastern, and southeastern Mexico, as well as the Bay of Campeche, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean extending well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. Moderate density smoke/aerosol covered the western Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, portions of southern and eastern Mexico, and south of the coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America. DUST: Southeastern New Mexico/Northern Mexico... An area of generally light density blowing dust was observed moving south-southeast from northern Mexico, southeastern New Mexico and northern/central Texas as evening approached. Somewhat thicker blowing dust was also seen farther to the south and east along the western end of significant cloud cover across northeastern Mexico, and from south central to north central Texas. The dust may extend farther to the east and northeast but cloud cover prevented additional information from satellite imagery. It is also likely mixing with smoke from the northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma wildfires and from fires farther to the south in Mexico. Mexico/Gulf of Mexico... Thicker blowing dust was seen blowing east from most of central and southern Mexico contributing to the thickness of the mass of “SMOKE/AEROSOL” section over the Gulf of Mexico. Eglin 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 map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov