DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0150Z April 15, 2023
SMOKE: Central and Eastern CONUS/Atlantic Ocean… Heavy seasonal burning cross the central and eastern U.S. was responsible for a large area of mostly light density smoke extending from central U.S. eastward to the northeastern U.S., the Mid-Atlantic region, and portions of the western North Atlantic. Within the large area of smoke, patches of moderate density smoke were observed in the vicinity of the fires. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Caribbean Sea/Northwestern Central America/Eastern Half of Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… An area of light to moderate density smoke, from fire activity over the Mexico, northwestern Central America, and western Caribbean Islands,combined with emissions from industrial sources from Mexico and Central America, was seen engulfing eastern and southern Mexico, Cuba, most of the Caribbean Sea, northwestern Central America and extending well into the Pacific Ocean offshore northwestern Central America and southwest Mexico. Embedded areas of moderate to even thick density smoke were visible especially over southern and southeastern Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, northwestern Central America, and off the coast of northwestern Central America and southern Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. Blowing Dust: West Central Texas… An area of light to potentially moderate density dust was observed in west central Texas moving northeast. YL 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