DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0118Z January 11, 2023
SMOKE: South Central and Southeastern United States... A large amount of light to moderate density smoke plumbs attributed primarily to widespread seasonal burning activity in the south-central & southeastern U.S. created an area of smoke stretching from Louisiana eastward across the Southeastern U.S. into South Carolina today. This smoke continued south over the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, this smoke is combining with the smoke and aerosol down south listed in the SMOKE/AEROSOL section. A larger area of moderate density smoke was observed over southern Georgia and southern Alabama due to heavy seasonal burning. All of this smoke was observed moving generally southeast or south. South Florida… Widespread agricultural burning and associated light to moderate smoke production was observed throughout Florida today. There was an area of moderate smoke moving south across southern Florida due to heavy seasonal burning. Pacific Northwest... A large number of wildfires and seasonal/prescribed type fire activity was observed throughout British Columbia and Alberta but heavy cloud covered precluding smoke analysis in this region tonight. Cuba... Light to moderate density smoke from recent rounds of seasonal burning throughout Cuba and extending south into the surrounding Caribbean. Northern Mexico: In northern Mexico seasonal burning and wildfires were seen releasing light to moderate smoke in Chihuahua and Sonora. The smoke was moving north in Son0ora and northeast in Chihuahua. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Caribbean Sea/Eastern and Southern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America… A sprawling area of thin density smoke and aerosol mix could be seen this today over portions of southern and eastern Mexico and northwestern Central America and extending to the south well out over the Pacific Ocean. The smoke and aerosol mixture was also present over the Bay of Campeche and stretched to the east north through the southern portion of the Gulf States, most of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and off the southeast coast of the U.S. over the Atlantic. This smoke/aerosol mixture was likely due to industrial activities in Mexico and northwestern Central America along with seasonal burning in those regions as well. 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