DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z March 28, 2023
SMOKE: Central U.S... A significant amount of seasonal fire activity yesterday in the central U.S. resulted in a sizable area of remnant thin density smoke in the region stretching from the Central Plains to the Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley region. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Florida/Atlantic Ocean off the Florida Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America/Central and Western Caribbean Sea/Hispaniola/Jamaica/Cuba... A mixture of mainly thin density smoke from seasonal fire activity and aerosols from industrial activity both originating from portions of Mexico and Central America was seen today across southern and eastern Mexico, portions of Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida peninsula, and off the east coast of Florida over the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, seasonal fire activity occurring in Hispaniola and Cuba, was responsible for thin density smoke which spread to the west from those areas over the central and western Caribbean and then to the northeast toward the Gulf of Mexico where it eventually merged with the smoke/aerosols originating from Mexico and Central America. Embedded moderately dense to thick areas of smoke from seasonal fire activity and a few wildfires mainly in Mexico, were visible over the interior of southern and southeastern Mexico and along and off the southern and southeastern coast of Mexico and southern Guatemala over the Pacific Ocean. Additional patches of moderate density smoke were seen across some of eastern Mexico and over the far western and southern part of the Bay of Campeche. 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