DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1853Z December 27, 2021
SMOKE:
Southern Florida...
Numerous agricultural fires primarily south of Lake Okeechobee in southern
Florida were emitting thin density smoke plumes that were moving to
the east.
Bay of Campeche…
A long stream of light density smoke was observed offshore, emanating from
the cluster of rigs, and moving to the north-northwest. An additional
fire onshore contributed to the light smoke as its plume moved to the
northwest over the water.
Northern Mexico…
Additional light smoke plumes were scattered throughout the country due
to scattered wildfires and agricultural burns.
Southeastern US…
A few light density smoke plumes were observed moving northeast ahead
of encroaching cloud cover due to scattered fires throughout Georgia
and South Carolina.
SMOKE/AEROSOL:
Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific
Ocean South of Mexico and Central America...
The usual aerosol which has been seen fairly consistently for weeks
now was present again over portions of southern and eastern Mexico,
northwestern Central America, a sizable part of the tropical eastern
Pacific south of the Mexico and Central America coastlines, the Bay
of Campeche, and the western and central Gulf of Mexico. This aerosol
was likely composed in part of atmospheric pollutants including factory
emissions and emissions from gas/oil flaring and regional seasonal fire
activity occurring in portions of Mexico and northern Central America as
well as Cuba. While it is virtually impossible to distinguish the other
atmospheric pollutants from smoke in satellite imagery, it is believed
that there is a greater likelihood for smoke to be present along and off
the southern coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America over the
relatively nearby portion of the Pacific, and along and off the east coast
of Mexico over the Bay of Campeche and the far western Gulf of Mexico.
JL
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