DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z February 27, 2022
SMOKE: Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Southeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast… An area of remnant thin density smoke associated with recent rounds of significant seasonal fire activity in the southeastern U.S. was visible this morning over a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and extending inland over much of Florida, far southeastern Alabama, southern Georgia, and southern south Carolina. The smoke then also extended offshore of the southeastern U.S. coast over the Atlantic Ocean. Cloud cover along the northern periphery of this area of smoke prevented additional information on the extent of the smoke in that region from satellite imagery. Cuba/Hispaniola/Caribbean… At least a couple of patches of leftover thin density smoke from seasonal fire activity in Cuba and Hispaniola were seen this morning. One stretched from the western part of the Dominican Republic and Haiti to the west and southwest and off the coast over the Caribbean. The second area extended from southeastern Cuba to the west and southwest and off the coast of Cuba over the Caribbean. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Bay of Campeche/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... The usual combination of thin to moderate 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 this morning over most of the Bay of Campeche, the southern and western Gulf of Mexico, portions of southern, central, and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, and the Pacific Ocean extending well off the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. Within the larger mass of thin density smoke/aerosol were embedded areas of moderate density smoke/aerosol which were more prevalent over southern Mexico and extending to the south off the coast of southern Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. 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 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