DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z March 16, 2021

SMOKE:
Florida/Atlantic…
Remnant smoke present this morning over the Atlantic off the southeastern
U.S. coast was no longer discernible among clouds this afternoon. Fires
around the southern shore of Lake Okeechobee were observed to be producing
small areas of light-density smoke moving northeast across the lake. An
additional fire in southwestern Florida was producing smoke extending
westward over the coastal Gulf of Mexico.

Cuba...
Several fires were observed to be producing smoke plumes moving mainly
westward off and along the southern coastline of Cuba. One larger fire
in central Cuba was producing a plume of light-density smoke moving
northward over the Florida Straits.

Southern Texas/Mexico and Western Gulf of Mexico...
Light-density smoke was observed over much of the southwestern Gulf of
Mexico and nearby coastal regions of Mexico extending from the Bay of
Campeche to near the border with Texas. A few fires in southern Texas
and northeastern Mexico were producing individual plumes of smoke of
up to moderate density. Additional fires in west-central Mexico were
producing plumes of light smoke moving northeastward.

Remainder of southeastern and south-central U.S....
Despite numerous detected fires in the region, scattered to overcast
cloud cover conditions prevented analysis of possible smoke in the region.

MTC


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.