DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0146Z February 23, 2022
SMOKE: Florida... Heavy agricultural burning activity was observed throughout Florida this afternoon. As some cloud cover appeared an area of light to moderate density smoke was observed extending west off the entire peninsula over the Gulf of Mexico. In northeastern and northwestern Florida two mostly moderate to heavy density smoke plumbs were observed moving north towards and into southeastern Georgia as evening approached. British Columbia, Alberta... Numerous seasonal fires in British Columbia and Alberta were seen at least light density smoke generally moving southeast as night approached. Cloud cover and snow in the background made it hard to see and gauge the amount of smoke in the area preventing further analysis. Cuba: Seasonal burning was responsible for numerous light to moderate density smoke plumbs throughout Cuba creating areas of light smoke over the Caribbean moving northwest of Cuba and south of the island. Hispaniola/Caribbean Sea... Scattered wildfire activity continues to be observed in the Southwestern Dominican Republic emitting light to moderate density smoke that was seen progressing southwestward offshore from Hispaniola over the Caribbean Sea. SMOKE/AEROSOL: U.S. Gulf Coast, Florida, Bay of Campeche/Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... The combination of thin density smoke from seasonal fires in Mexico and Central America and other atmospheric pollutants including aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industries in the region was visible today over southern, western and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, a sizable portion of the Pacific off the southern coast of Mexico and Central America, the Bay of Campeche, most of the Gulf of Mexico, southeastern Texas, and continuing east over southern Louisiana and off the U.S. Gulf Coast. Heavier areas of smoke were observed around the western Gulf of Mexico and Northwestern Central America. Smoke from widespread wildfires in northwestern South America may be contributing to these areas of smoke. Eglin 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 map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov