Thursday, March 17, 2022

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0158Z March 18, 2022


SMOKE:
Central U.S. Extending to the Great Lakes Region, and Mid-Atlantic...
A large number of fires were actively burning across much of the
central U.S., and in particular across northeastern Oklahoma, Missouri,
Arkansas and southern Illinois where individual plumes of moderate
concentration with some heavier areas of smoke near the sources could
be seen dispersing toward the north. A large area consisting of light
density smoke stretched from central Texas to the Great Lakes region
in the north and NY/Pennsylvania area in the northeast, This smoke also
extends off of the southeast coast and may include some remnant smoke.

California...
Seasonal burning activity in northern California was was responsible for
numerous light to moderate density smoke plumbs that were moving north
as evening approached.

Cuba...
Mostly light density smoke from recent rounds of seasonal burning in
Cuba was seen this morning over most of Cuba and extending to the north
of the island toward the Florida Keys and to the south of the island
over the nearby Caribbean.

SMOKE/AEROSOL:
South Central and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern
Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean off South of Mexico and Central
America...
A large area of mostly light density smoke with embedded smaller patches
of moderate density smoke mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring
and other industrial sources in Mexico and Central America was observed
over much of the Gulf of Mexico, central, eastern, and southern Mexico,
a portion of Central America, and extending well south of the southern
Mexico and Central America coastline over the Pacific Ocean. The embedded
moderate areas of smoke/aerosol were seen over eastern Mexico and the
western part of the Bay of Campeche, and along a portion of the southern
coastal areas of Mexico and Guatemala, and extending south of there over
the Pacific.

BLOWING DUST:
New Mexico/Northern Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma...
An area of at least moderate density blowing dust with heavier dust on
the leading edges was observed moving south-southeast from New Mexico,
northern Mexico, and northern/western Texas as evening approached. Some
dust could be seen through cloud cover in southern Oklahoma as well. This
dust could stretch further east and north but cloud cover precluded
further analysis.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.