DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0050Z March 6, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S... Widespread fire activity was observed this afternoon over much of the southeastern U.S. with numerous smoke plumes of light-to-moderate density found specially across southwestern Georgia, central-southern Alabama and Mississippi, the Florida Panhandle, and central Louisiana. The smoke was seen dispersing predominantly towards the north-northwest, with several of those plumes coalescing and impacting the entire region. Remnant smoke from previous days fires was also seen extending to the east for several hundred miles over the Atlantic ocean waters off the Florida coastline. Western Caribbean Islands... Widespread fire activity was also observed over Cuba, central-western Hispaniola and Jamaica with concentrated smoke found along the southern coastline of Cuba and extending over the western Caribbean Sea. Southern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Central America... A mix of smoke due to fire activity in central Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America along with aerosols originating from gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche and other industrial activity in central Mexico could be seen spreading across much of the central and western Gulf of Mexico, southern Mexico, and coastal areas from Central America to southern Mexico. WS 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