DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z April 28, 2021
SMOKE:
Mexico/Gulf Of Mexico/Texas/Louisiana...
A large area of thin to moderate density smoke blankets the western
Gulf of Mexico, the southeastern two-thirds of Mexico, northern Central
America, the far western Caribbean, and areas of the Pacific Ocean near
and south of Mexico. The thin density smoke over the western Caribbean is
likely the result of burning activity across Cuba from the last day or
two, while much of the rest of the smoke is the result of fire activity
across Central America, the Yucatan, and the coastal plain of Mexico
along the Gulf of Mexico and Bay of Campeche. Active smoke production is
noted across the Gulf and Pacific coastal plains, the Yucatan Peninsula,
and northern Central America. The smoke is moving west-northwest from the
Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico, where the smoke is drawn northward
and northeastward. The exact northward extent of this area of smoke is
uncertain given the extensive cloud cover over Texas and Louisiana.
Southeastern CONUS/Mid-Atlantic...
Varying density smoke plumes were observed originating from fires
extending from Florida and Mississippi into Pennsylvania this
afternoon. Smoke was moving anticyclonically around an area of high
pressure centered off the Carolina coast, with smoke moving westward
across Florida, northward across Alabama, northeastward across the
Carolinas, and eastward across Virginia and Pennsylvania. The mos
prolific smoke producing fire was located in West Virginia, just over
the border from Virginia, where thick smoke production was observed with
the whole plume extending eastward to the Chesapeake Bay or the lower
DelMarVa peninsula.
Northern Mexico into western Texas…
An area of fairly dense fire activity across southwestern Chihuahua was
producing a number of light smoke plumes, with one fire producing notably
more smoke than the rest. The thick smoke from this fire was reaching
west Texas by sunset. All smoke observed was moving northeastward.
Montana…
A dense area of fire activity in western Montana was producing mainly
light smoke that was moving off toward the east into central Montana.
DUST:
Mojave Desert…
Throughout the day, some light to moderate blowing dust was observed
across southern California in the western portions of the Mojave
Desert. The dust was getting blown southwestward over the Los Angeles
Metropolitan area and out into the Pacific Ocean across some of the
eastern-most Chanel Islands.
Mexico…
Scattered in with the smoke production in the Mexican state of Chihuahua,
some light to moderate blowing dust was observed. This was also moving
northeastward with the aforementioned smoke.
Hosley
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