Wednesday, March 18, 2020

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2345Z March 18, 2020

SMOKE:
South Florida/Southeastern Georgia...
Smoke from agricultural fires observed south of Lake Okeechobee earlier
today has drifted westward and mixed in with smoke plumes from fires
in Polk, Hardee, DeSoto, and Charlotte counties spreading over areas
north and south of Tampa Bay and the adjacent Gulf coastline in the
form of light-density smoke higher up in the atmosphere. Additional
fires in northern Florida and southwestern Georgia were also emitting
light-density smoke plumes heading towards the north-northeast.

Cuba…
Widespread afire activity could be seen along much of the island this
afternoon. Light-to-moderate density smoke plumes were dispersing towards
the west-southwest blanketing the western shoreline and extending for
approximately 150 miles off the coast.

Southern Mexico/Western Yucatan Peninsula...
Numerous seasonal fires were actively burning this afternoon across
western Yucatan peninsula and the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and
Veracruz. A pocket of light-density stagnant smoke covered central
Chiapas, western Tabasco and the majority of Veracruz. Additional
light-density smoke from gas flaring activity associated with oil rigs
in the Bay of Campeche was seen extending for more than 350 miles in
the northwest direction towards the central Gulf of Mexico.

WS


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.