DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0111Z May 26, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of the U.S./U.S./Atlantic Ocean... An exceptionally large area of smoke, attributed primarily to the large wildfires occurring mainly in central and northern Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, and southwestern part of the Northwest Territories, continues to impact significant portions of Canada, the United States, and extending well off the east coast of the United States and eastern Canada and over a sizable portion of the Atlantic Ocean likely reaching Europe. Moderate to heavy density smoke was seen stretching from the southern part of the Northwest Territories and northern and central Alberta to the east and northeast over southern Nunavut. Additional areas of moderate to thick density smoke were visible extending from south central Canada into the north central and south central U.S. and from the Middle and Lower Mississippi Valley region eastward to the Mid-Atlantic region. From there, the moderate smoke narrowed in a band which curved to the north off the U.S. east coast. It is also likely that smoke from the fires in Mexico and Central America mixed in with the smoke from the Canadian fires somewhere over the south central and southeastern U.S. New Mexico/Arizona... Three wildfires, two in western New Mexico and one in northern Arizona were releasing mostly thin to moderate density smoke, with dense smoke in Arizona, that was observed moving generally north remaining within the respective states. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southern U.S/Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean Extending well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… An extensive area of thin to moderate density smoke linked mainly to the ongoing widespread burning season along with a few wildfires in Mexico and northwestern Central America was detected over most of Mexico, all of northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest off coast of Mexico, and most of the Gulf of Mexico. This smoke extended northward towards the south central and southeastern U.S, where it is likely mixing with the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Within this large mass of thin density smoke were areas of moderate to locally thick density smoke especially over southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, just off the southern coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America over the Pacific Ocean. While the majority of what was detected on satellite imagery was believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity mainly in Mexico and Central America may be mixing in. 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