DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0030Z March 17, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S/Atlantic Ocean.... Widespread smoke plumes of various densities produced from seasonal fire activity and agricultural burning was observed across the Southeastern CONUS. Many of these smoke plumes in the southern states was seen moving north while plumes located more north of the region was seen moving north-northwestward. In the states of Georgia and Alabama, majority of the smoke plumes combined to produced large patches of moderate dense smoke moving north before cloud cover blocked further analysis. Due to the contributions of the seasonal fire activity and agricultural burning in the southeastern U.S, a large area of smoke, a combination of remnant smoke from yesterday’s smoke and light density from today’s activity, was seen covering the Southeastern U.S, extending north towards Virginia, east into the Atlantic Ocean, and south into the Gulf of Mexico. This large area of smoke may be present in south-central U.S and the Mississippi valley area but heavy cloud cover prevented further analysis. In addition, the smoke in the Gulf of Mexico likely mixed with smoke/aerosol produced from fire and industrial activity in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. SMOKE/AEROSOL... Eastern and Southern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico... A large area of mainly thin density smoke from fire and industrial activity in Mexico and Central America was seen over in eastern and Southern Mexico, parts of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean well south of Mexico. Within this region, a large patch of moderate dense smoke/aerosol mix was observed extending from south-central Mexico and southwestern Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the smoke/aerosol mix located further north in the Gulf of Mexico likely mingled with smoke from seasonal fire activity in the southeastern U.S. NGUYEN 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