DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z April 5, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Coast of the U.S./Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Hispaniola/Cuba/Jamaica/Caribbean Sea/Northwestern Central America/Southeastern Half of Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America... Significant and widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America resulted in a very large mass of primarily thin to moderate density smoke which blanketed much of the southeastern half of Mexico, portions of Central America, the Pacific off the coast of southern Mexico and northwestern Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and some of the southeastern U.S. and Middle Atlantic region. Cloudiness in various places including the Gulf of Mexico and inland over the southeastern U.S. and Mid-Atlantic region limited the certainty of the location of the smoke in those areas from satellite imagery. While the smoke over the U.S. was likely thin in density, moderate to even smaller thick areas of smoke were seen over some of southern and southeastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, and extending to the north over the Bay of Campeche and some of the western Gulf of Mexico though cloudiness did interfere with a more precise boundary of the smoke in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, more smoke mixed with aerosols originating from seasonal fires and industrial sources in Cuba and Hispaniola was visible this morning spreading to the west over some of the central and western Caribbean and then to the northwest over the eastern and central Gulf of Mexico where it likely merged with the smoke/aerosols originating from Mexico and Central America. Blowing Dust: Central and South Central U.S… Residual dust from yesterday’s significant episode which originated in portions of western Oklahoma, western Texas, eastern and southeastern New Mexico, and far northern Mexico, was seen this morning covering a significant area of the central and south central U.S. from eastern Colorado eastward to the Middle and Upper Mississippi Valley region though cloud cover in the eastern part of this area around the Mississippi Valley region interfered with information on the extent of the dust through satellite imagery. The leftover dust also appeared to extend to the south over the Southern Plains and just over the Rio Grande in southern and southwestern Texas. The thickest dust which was perhaps nearing moderate density was located in a band stretching from northeastern Oklahoma to the northeast possibly reaching Wisconsin though cloudiness was interfering with detection in that area through satellite imagery. 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