Friday, March 19, 2021

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1953Z March 19, 2021

SMOKE:
Central Plains…
Widespread agricultural fires produced numerous light density smoke plumes
primarily located in Oklahoma.  Smoke plume movement was primarily to
the south.  A few additional plumes were observed moving northward in
Kansas into southern Nebraska.

Texas…
Scattered fire activity in the north-central and southeastern portions
of the state was emitting light density smoke moving southward.  Fire
activity was more concentrated and plumes were observed moving quickly
southward on the Texas Gulf coast and far southernmost tip of Texas.

Mexico…
Widespread fire activity all over the country was producing light
density smoke that moved very slowly westward in the morning hours before
turning sharply eastward and accelerating dramatically.  Smoke plumes were
concentrated on the western side of northern Mexico, meanwhile, additional
fires cropped up on the northeastern and Gulf coast regions, which also
produced light density smoke.  Remnant light smoke was also observed
along the northern Gulf coast of Mexico from previous days’ fires.

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

 


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.