DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0305Z April 18, 2020
SMOKE:
Southern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Central Florida…
An enormous amount of fire activity throughout southern Mexico, into
the Yucatan peninsula and down into Central America has generate new and
residual smoke lingering over the region and extending into the southern
and central Gulf of Mexico prior to extending eastward across central
Florida. Smoke over southern Mexico and Central America, as well as the
Bay of Campeche and just off of the Yucatan peninsula was medium-to-heavy
in density, while light smoke covered a majority of central and southern
Mexico, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and central Florida.
Cuba…
Widespread fire activity was emitting light-to-medium density smoke
moving primarily west-southwest offshore of the southern and western
shores of the island.
Central Plains…
Continued agricultural burns in the central plains were emitting
primarily light density smoke plumes moving mostly south throughout
Kansas and Oklahoma.
Southeastern U.S…
Continued fire activity in Georgia, northern Florida and Alabama was
producing primarily light density smoke moving north prior to cloud
cover obscuring visibility.
EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON...
SMOKE:
Southern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico….
A large number of fires over the past few days have generated a large
area of smoke that extended over much of the western Gulf of Mexico and
southern Texas south through eastern and into southern Mexico and Central
America. The smoke then extended west into the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Within this area of smoke the highest density smoke extended from the
western Gulf of Mexico into Central America and into the coastal eastern
Pacific Ocean.
Levine
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