DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0108Z February 16, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the Southeastern U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Hispaniola/Caribbean Sea/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… A sprawling mass of a combination of smoke from seasonal fire activity occurring in portions of Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the South Central and Southeastern U.S. along with aerosols from industrial sources mainly in Cuba, Hispaniola, Mexico, and Central America was seen this throughout the day over a very large region. The smoke/aerosol from Mexico and Northwestern Central America was visible well off the coast of southern Mexico and Central America over the Pacific and across southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, and much of the Gulf of Mexico where it eventually merged with the smoke/aerosols emanating from Cuba and Hispaniola which were spreading to the west, northwest, and north over the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The combined smoke/aerosols from these multiple source regions moved from the Gulf of Mexico to the northeast over the U.S. Gulf Coast region and the southeastern U.S. and offshore of the southeastern U.S. over the Atlantic. Areas of Moderate smoke were noted throughout Florida, the western Gulf of Mexico, Cuba and the southern coast of Mexico into the Pacific. BLOWING DUST: Northeastern U.S./Ohio Valley/Middle Mississippi Valley/South Central U.S… A large swath of what is likely primarily remnant thin density blowing dust which originated from a number of locations from eastern Colorado and western Kansas southward to southern and southeastern New Mexico, western Texas, northern Mexico was seen this morning in a relatively cloud free area stretching from central Texas to the northeast across the Middle Mississippi Valley region and Ohio Valley region . New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma… A new area of moderately dense to locally thick blowing dust was visible this evening spreading quickly to the southeast from southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. This dust continues to move southeast over most of Texas and western Oklahoma as evening approached. 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