Tuesday April 21, 2020

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z April 21, 2020

SMOKE:
South Texas/Gulf of Mexico/Southern Mexico/Central America/Southwestern
Caribbean Sea/Eastern Pacific...
Widespread seasonal fire activity continues to persist across most of
Southern Mexico and portions of Central America including the Yucatan
Peninsula, Guatemala, and Honduras. Moderate to thick density smoke was
observed over most of the region from the widespread fire activity. A
large region of light to moderate density smoke was also observed over
the Southwestern/Southeastern Gulf of Mexico as well as over the Eastern
Pacific Ocean South of Southern Mexico and the Southwestern Caribbean Sea
North of Honduras. The light/moderate density smoke was also observed
over portions of South Texas. The smoke appears to be continuing to
progress Northward this morning/afternoon.

South Florida/Northern Bahamas/Cuba...
A large region of light density smoke was observed this morning with the
latest GOES16 RGB Visible imagery across the South Florida Peninsula
as well as over the Western Atlantic and Northern Bahamas. Seasonal
fire activity was also observed over portions of Cuba with moderate to
thick density smoke in the vicinity of fires and light density smoke
further from the fire activity. The smoke from fire activity in Cuba
is progressing Northward. The smoke over South Florida and the Northern
Bahamas is due to smoke transport from widespread seasonal fire activity
from Mexico, Central America, and Cuba. The smoke over South Florida and
the Northern Bahamas is progressing Southeastward this morning/afternoon.

A Sambucci


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.