DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z April 5, 2020
SMOKE: Central U.S... Areas of thin to localized moderate density smoke were visible across portions of the Central U.S. including western Oklahoma, Kansas, eastern Nebraska, and Iowa. The smoke was being produced by seasonal fire activity with the highest concentrations of smoke being across central and eastern Kansas. Southeastern U.S... Seasonal fires were responsible for a number of visible mainly thin density smoke plumes especially over east central Alabama, Georgia, and southern North Carolina. Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba... Significant seasonal burning occurring in central, southern, and southeastern Mexico along with portions of Central America produced locally moderate to thick density smoke particularly over the Yucatan Peninsula and portions of Central America. A much larger area of thinner density smoke from the fires in Mexico and Central America blanketed much of southern and southeastern Mexico and extended northward over the Bay of Campeche and the western and southern Gulf of Mexico. Cloud cover farther to the north over southern and southeastern Texas and the northwestern Gulf of Mexico limited smoke detection in satellite imagery so it wasn't known how far north the smoke extended. Farther to the east widespread seasonal fires in Cuba resulted in smoke impacting much of the island and the nearby offshore waters. DUST: Central U.S... A swath of leftover thin density aerosol aloft which may be long range dust transport from Asia could be seen just prior to sunset spreading eastward over southeastern Wyoming, western Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, western Oklahoma, and northwestern Texas. 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