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