DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0220Z May 15, 2019
SMOKE:
Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico...
Fire activity remains high across central-southern Mexico. A large area of
moderate-to-heavy density smoke covers most of central-southern Mexico,
Guatemala, Belize and northwest Honduras. The plume extends to west for
approximately 200 miles over the Pacific ocean waters off southern Mexico,
to the east over the Gulf of Honduras, and to the north-northeast over
the majority of the Gulf of Mexico. Low and variable winds continue
to favor smoke entrapment in the region, with pockets of heavy smoke
concentration covering the Gulf of Honduras, the Mexican states of Oaxaca,
Guerrero and Tabasco, and the western Gulf of Mexico.
South-Central Canada/Minnesota/Dakotas...
Fire activity remains high across the Dakotas and into Minnesota, with a
large concentration of fires extending north into south-central Canada.
Smoke appeared light and in addition to individual plumes, covered the
entire region in-between clouds. Cloud activity has prevented much of
the smoke from being visible besides in cloud breaks.
Coastal Southeast U.S...
Small plumes of light to medium density smoke were visible between
breaks in cloud activity reaching from southeastern Alabama, across
Georgia and into the Carolinas. Cloud activity prevented some smoke from
being visible, but between clouds some light plumes heading southeast
were visible. Plumes within the Carolinas extended southeast off of
the coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.
JL
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: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg
GIS: ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/
KML: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire)
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke)
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO:
SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov