DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z January 25, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A large mass of primarily thin density smoke and aerosol from seasonal fire activity mainly in Mexico and industrial activity also mainly in Mexico was visible covering portions of southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Bay of Campeche, much of the Gulf of Mexico, and likely extending into some of the southeastern U.S. though cloudiness farther inland over the southeastern U.S. prevented additional information on the extent of the smoke/aerosol. The smoke/aerosol mixture also was present well south of the southern coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America over the Pacific Ocean. An embedded area of moderate density smoke/aerosol mixture was seen over the Bay of Campeche, southeastern Mexico, and over the Gulf of Tehuantepec and a small portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the coast of southeastern Mexico. Cuba/Hispaniola/Caribbean Sea/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean South of the Bahamas… Areas of generally thin density smoke/aerosol from rounds of seasonal burning and industrial activity in Cuba and Hispaniola was present across the western part of Hispaniola, virtually all of Cuba, the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba, the Atlantic Ocean between Cuba and the Bahamas, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico where it merged with a smoke/aerosol mixture emanating mainly from Mexico. Within the larger area of thin density smoke/aerosol mixture was a batch of moderate density smoke/aerosol over south central Cuba and a relatively small portion of the Caribbean Sea to the south of Cuba. This is likely mostly smoke from yesterday’s round of significant seasonal fire activity in Cuba. JS 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