DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1710Z April 26, 2020
SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Northern Central America... Widespread agricultural burning continues to impact air quality across the entire region, despite a slower start of fires this morning relative to previous days. Part of the reduction in burning activity is attributed to a large convective system which covers much of southern Mexico, extending northeastward from the Bay of Campeche to southern Florida. Smoke could not be mapped under the cloud-covered area and may have been reduced due to wet deposition. Elsewhere, moderate-to-heavy smoke concentration could be seen over central and western Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. Moderate smoke was also seen extending westward for approximately 200 miles over the Pacific Ocean along the southwestern coastline of Mexico. Additional light-density smoke covered central Mexico, part of the western Gulf of Mexico, and the waters between the Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba. 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