DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z March 5, 2022
SMOKE: Area from the South Central and Southeastern U.S. to the Great Lakes Region and the Mid-Atlantic Region… A broad area of remnant thin density smoke associated with recent widespread and significant seasonal primarily fire activity in the south central and southeastern U.S. was visible this morning across the area extending from the south central and southeastern U.S. to the north and northeast to at least as far to the north as southern Wisconsin and southern Michigan and as far to the northeast as northern Virginia. An embedded smaller patch of moderate density leftover smoke was seen moving quickly to the northeast over the area from southern Indiana to northwestern Ohio. Cloud cover around portions of the periphery of the smoke area prevented determination on whether any smoke is present farther beyond this smoke area. Across the southern part of the smoke area, smoke and aerosol from Mexico is likely mixing in with the smoke from the seasonal fire activity in the south central and southeastern U.S. In the southwestern part of the area, blowing dust is likely mixing in as well over the eastern portions of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southeastern Texas and Southern Louisiana/Bay of Campeche/Gulf of Mexico/Central, 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 and the Gulf of Mexico with the possible exception of the southeastern part of the 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. The thinner density smoke/aerosol mix also spread to the north and northeast likely reaching southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana before it became mixed with smoke from significant seasonal fire activity occurring in the south central and southeastern U.S. It also mixed with blowing dust over central Texas and possibly farther to the north as well. Within the larger mass of thin density smoke/aerosol was a rather large area of moderate density smoke/aerosol which was more prevalent over southern Mexico and extending to the south well off the coast of southern Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Colorado/Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas… A large area of leftover mainly thin density blowing dust attributed to yesterday’s stronger winds across portions of the south central and southwestern U.S. was seen this morning over southeastern Colorado and extending to the east across western and central Kansas, western and central Oklahoma, and western and central Texas. The dust likely extends farther to the north, east, and southeast of its present location where it mixes in with smoke though extensive cloud cover prevents more precise determination on this from satellite imagery. 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