DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z February 15, 2022
SMOKE:
Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley/Southeast U.S…
An area of light to moderate remnant smoke was observed across the central
and southern thirds of the eastern half of the CONUS as day broke. This
area extends from the WI/IL border to central Texas to the TN/VA border
to northern Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. The moderate areas of remnant
smoke reside over the northern Gulf of Mexico, central MS and AL, and
the Ozarks. Due to cloud cover, the southeastward extent is uncertain and
could, in fact, be one large area with the other areas of smoke/aerosol
across the Gulf of Mexico (see below). The remnant smoke over the Plains
and Mississippi Valley has been moving around an area of high pressure,
so smoke is moving NE over the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, north
over OK/AR, and northwest over LA and MS.
Within the large area of remnant smoke, numerous active smoke plumes
were also observed from Oklahoma and Texas into Florida, the Carolinas,
and Virginia. The smoke from these plumes that have persisted overnight
and/or restarted this morning has mainly been light with one or two
producing moderate density smoke. The entire area is under the influence
of a large high pressure area at the surface centered over TN/KY, so smoke
from the Carolinas into Alabama has been moving east while smoke over
eastern TX and LA has been moving N to NW and smoke over eastern OK and
AR has been moving N to NNE. Further active smoke plumes are suspected
across the Florida Panhandle given the appearance of moderate density
smoke emerging from beneath the cloud deck. This is based on the one
smoke plume that is visible in the Florida Panhandle has veered from
moving south-southwest to west-southwest, which would draw the smoke
out from under the cloud deck. There is also a possibility smoke exists
across the rest of Florida, but there is less certainty in that assertion.
SMOKE/AEROSOL:
Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and
Central America...
An expansive area of what is believed to be a combination of smoke from
agricultural burning, gas flaring activity, and aerosols from other
sources is present across the southern Gulf of Mexico, the western
Caribbean, portions of coastal Mexico and Central America, and the
Pacific Ocean. The area seen likely originates in the western Caribbean
and southern Gulf of Mexico and extends westward into the Bay of Campeche
where it is funneled southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and
into the Pacific Ocean. From there, minor contributions are likely
made from coastal areas of Mexico and far western Guatemala. More
significant contributions are also made from burning across Central
America as evidenced by the higher density smoke/aerosol extending off
the Nicaraguan Coast than that off the Salvadoran and central and eastern
Guatemalan coasts. The exact western extent of the smoke/aerosol layer
in the tropical pacific is uncertain due to the presence of some clouds
and the lack of daylight at the time of analysis.
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