DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 17, 2023
SMOKE: Canada, Northern Plains of the United States, Upper Midwest of the United States and Northeastern United States…. An large area of light to moderate smoke with concentrated heavy density smoke plumes in NW Canada was visible this morning as a result of wildfire activity across northeastern British Columbia, northern and central Alberta and northern Saskatchewan was seen extending from this region, and the southeast Northwest Territories, east and southeastward across most of Manitoba, Northern Plains, Upper Midwest, Northeastern United States, portions of southern and northern Canada, offshore the Northeastern United States and extending into the North Atlantic Ocean. Due to cloud coverage in the Southeast corner of the U.S., smoke plumes were difficult to detect. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Gulf of Mexico, Northwestern Central America, Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of Northwestern Central Mexico and Southwest Mexico…. A large area of light density smoke from ongoing fire activity in Mexico and northwestern Central America was seen today extending from Mexico and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of northwestern Central America and southwestern Mexico. While the majority of what is seen in satellite imagery is believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity mainly in Mexico and Central America may be mixing in. 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