DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z May 24, 2019
SMOKE:
Western Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Central America/Pacific off the coast of
Mexico and Central America...
The continuing significant seasonal burning and wildfire activity
occurring across portions of Mexico and Central America was responsible
for a huge mass of varying density smoke covering much of Mexico (with
the exception of the northwest part), Central America, and stretching
offshore to the south over the Pacific. Thin density smoke from this fire
activity also extended northward over the Bay of Campeche and the western
Gulf of Mexico. Embedded areas of moderately dense to thick smoke were
noted within the larger surrounding thin density smoke and these were
seen over much of Mexico and offshore over the nearby part of the Pacific.
Central and Southern Plains/Ohio and Tennessee Valley Regions/Mid-Atlantic
Region...Smoke from the large amount of seasonal and wildfire activity
over Mexico and Central America was also being transported to the north
across the area from Texas to the Central Plains and eastward from there
over portions of the Ohio and Tennessee Valley regions, the Mid-Atlantic
region, and offshore of the Mid-Atlantic states. Within this large mass
of thin density smoke was an area of moderate density smoke which covered
much of the western half of Texas and a good portion of Oklahoma.
Very Large Area Extending from Central Alaska to Eastern Canada...
Long range transport of leftover smoke primarily attributed to wildfire
activity burning recently in central and northern Alberta was evident in
satellite imagery this morning with smoke extending from central Alaska
southeastward over western and south central Canada and eastward from
there to Quebec Province of eastern Canada. Moderately dense to thick
smoke within the larger area of smoke was noted stretching from far
northeastern Alaska over the northern part of the Yukon and the western
and southwestern portion of the Northwest Territories to northeastern
British Columbia and northern Alberta. Other swaths of moderate density
smoke were visible over southeastern Manitoba and central Ontario as
well as west central Quebec.
JS
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