DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0033Z May 4, 2023
SMOKE: Central United States, Northwestern United States, Central Canada and Western Canada... Central & SE U.S./Atlantic of the SE USA/Western and Central Canada... Thin density smoke from a few wildfires and a large amount of seasonal fire activity was noted today in Canada stretching from eastern British Columbia to east central and southern Saskatchewan. The smoke also extended to the southwest reaching through most of Washington, all of Montana, eastern British Columbia, all of Alberta, most of Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, all of Idaho, and the Dakotas when the smoke moved south down trough the central U.S. and east across the southeastern U.S. extending out off the North Carolina coastline over the Atlantic ocean off the southeastern United States. Areas with moderate to heavy smoke plumes were noted throughout the described area such as, northern Montana, parts of Idaho, Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolinian, South Carolina, eastern Saskatchewan and central Manitoba. It is also possible that some dust aloft from significant dust storms in the desert regions of Asia over the past couple of weeks may be mixing in with smoke from the fire activity. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central and Southeastern U.S./Atlantic off the Southeastern U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A very large mass of thin to moderate density smoke linked to ongoing and significant seasonal fire activity and a few wildfires in Mexico and Central America was presnt over portions of the south central and southeastern U.S. and extending well offshore to the east over the Atlantic Ocean. The smoke also covered most of Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, the western and northern Caribbean Sea, northwestern Central America, most of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. The thickest smoke within this large area was seen over portions of southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Bay of Campeche, and the Gulf of Mexico likely extending into the southern tip of Texas. Eglin 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