DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z April 27, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: U.S. Gulf Coast Region/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… The ongoing significant and widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America resulted in a very large area of light to moderate density smoke with embedded smaller patches of thicker density smoke which covered southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America, much of the Gulf of Mexico, and the southern U.S. from southern Texas eastward to southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Some thinner density smoke was visible over the eastern half of Cuba and part of the far western Caribbean Sea. The thickest smoke again was visible over portions of southeastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, some of the Pacific south of the coast of southeastern Mexico and Northwestern Central America, the Bay of Campeche, and the far south central Gulf of Mexico. Although most of what was seen in satellite imagery was believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity primarily from Mexico and Central America may be contributing. UNKNOWN AEROSOL/SMOKE: Southwestern U.S./Central U.S./Ohio Valley/Great Lakes Region/Northeastern U.S./Mid-Atlantic Region… Satellite imagery continued to show a thin density aerosol covering a sizable area including portions of the southwestern U.S. including some of Arizona and New Mexico. The aerosol also covered much of the central U.S. from eastern Montana and the Dakotas southward to Texas. The aerosol then extended to the east from the central U.S. across the southern part of the Great Lakes region, along with the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the Northeastern U.S. While it is not certain, the majority of this aerosol is believed to be dust originating from large dust storms over some of the deserts in Asia and transported aloft to the east over the Pacific and portions of Canada and the U.S. over a period of days. There was also some light density smoke from recent seasonal fire activity in the north central and central U.S. especially from the approximate area stretching from Iowa and Missouri. There was also fire activity eastward to the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast but cloud coverage over this area made it difficult to detect smoke. Rodriguez 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