DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 7, 2021
SMOKE:
Central/South Central/Southeastern U.S…
A tremendous amount of what is believed to be primarily seasonal type
fire activity was detected encompassing a broad portion of the Central,
South Central, and Southeastern U.S. with the most concentrated fire
activity in Mississippi and Alabama, and along the immediate Gulf Coast
region. Another concentrated area of seasonal burning was present in
the eastern half of Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, Missouri, southeastern
Nebraska, southern Iowa, Illinois, and northern Arkansas. Significant
smoke coverage was visible over much of these areas as well with the bulk
of it in the form of thinner density smoke though locally thicker smoke
plumes were embedded in the region as well. High pressure was located in
the vicinity of Missouri and Arkansas with the smoke rotating clockwise
around the periphery of the high pressure which meant much of the smoke
in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast was moving to the south and
southeast, and even to the southwest along the Texas coast. The smoke
over the Central U.S. was generally moving more to the north and east
though the smoke over Oklahoma and northern Texas to the west of the
high pressure center was moving more to the west and northwest.
Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Pacific South of Mexico…
A rather large area of primarily thin density smoke attributed to the
seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America was seen over the
southern Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, southern and southeastern
Mexico, portions of Central America, and off the coast of southern Mexico
over the Pacific.
DUST:
Nevada…
Some blowing dust was seen moving to the east from the Humboldt Sink
and Carson Sink regions in western Nevada.
Utah…
A rather substantial surge of blowing dust was visible moving to the
south and east from the area to the west of the Great Salt Lake in
northern Utah. The dust appeared to be closing in on locations to the
east of the Great Salt Lake including Salt Lake City by late in the day.
Eastern Atlantic…
Saharan dust was seen in satellite imagery but was confined to the area
along and off the west coast of Africa and well east of the Windward
and Leeward Islands.
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