DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z December 16, 2021
SMOKE:
Kansas…
A mainly thin density smoke plume was visible extending to the east
and southeast from a large grassland fire in north central Kansas
which started during yesterday’s high wind event. This was the most
prominent fire in the region which continues to burn this morning. A few
other fires from yesterday were also detected still burning to a lesser
extent in portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and northwestern Texas but no
smoke was visible with those in satellite imagery.
DUST:
Area from the South Central U.S. to the Great Lakes Region and
Southeastern Canada…
A southwest to northeast oriented swath of leftover dust possibly mixed
with smoke was seen this morning extending from southern Oklahoma and
northern Texas to the northeast across the Middle Mississippi Valley and
Great Lakes regions and up over southeastern Ontario and southern Quebec
in southeastern Canada. The dust was rather thick over a portion of lower
Michigan and southeastern Ontario. Any smoke which may be present in
this area would be from the outbreak of grassland type fires yesterday
in the Central and Southern Plains.
AEROSOL:
Eastern Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico/Western Bay of Campeche/Southern
Mexico/Pacific Ocean off the Coast of Southern Mexico…
The typical aerosol which is likely composed more of other atmospheric
pollutants with a smaller contribution from seasonal fires in Mexico was
seen this morning in a couple of areas. One included eastern Mexico, the
western part of the Bay of Campeche, and the far western Gulf of Mexico
while the second and much larger area included portions of southern
Mexico and the Pacific Ocean along and extending well off the coast of
southern Mexico.
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