DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z March 11, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Gulf Coast and Southeastern United States, Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Western Caribbean Islands, Western Caribbean Sea, Eastern and Southern Mexico, Northwestern Central America and the Pacific Ocean off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America... The large area of a mixture of smoke, from significant seasonal fire activity, and aerosol from gas flaring activity was seen covering an area from the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast to the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico. Within the area, the smoke covered southern and eastern Mexico, the Gulf Coastal States and southeastern United States, Gulf of Mexico, western Caribbean Islands, and the western Caribbean Sea. The seasonal fire activity across the southern United States is likely the largest contributor to the portions across the northern Gulf of Mexico, United States, and into the Atlantic, while activity across the western Caribbean Islands contributed to portions across the western Caribbean and into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Central America. Towards the western region of the Gulf of Mexico, the contributions were mixed, from sources in the United States, Mexico and activity in the NW Caribbean. Patches of moderate dense smoke was seen over southern Texas, southern Florida, western Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean south of Mexico, eastern Hispaniola and off the coast of Southern Cuba. 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