DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z March 22, 2022
SMOKE: Mid-Atlantic Region/Atlantic Ocean East of Mid-Atlantic Coast… A band of remnant thin density smoke was seen this morning stretching from portions of the eastern Mid-Atlantic region eastward and off the Mid-Atlantic Coast over the far western Atlantic Ocean. This smoke was believed to be leftover from recent mainly seasonal type fire activity occurring over the central, south central, east, and southeastern U.S. which has pooled along west to east oriented frontal boundary. The smoke may extend farther inland to the west but significant cloud cover prevented detection of any smoke in satellite imagery which might be present there. Cuba/Caribbean… Areas of thin density smoke from ongoing seasonal fire activity in central and eastern Cuba were visible this morning moving to the west with some of the smoke reaching the nearby Caribbean to the south of Cuba. Newly developing moderate to even locally thick density smoke plumes were seen spreading to the west with several fires over eastern Cuba. SMOKE/AEROSOLS: Central Gulf Coast Region/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of Mexico… A large mass of light to moderate density smoke mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was visible this morning over southern and eastern Mexico, much of the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, a portion of Central America, and the Pacific Ocean extending well south of the coast of Mexico and Central America. The smoke/aerosol mix also likely extended inland over the central Gulf coast region and possibly even farther to the north but widespread cloud cover prevented additional information on the extent of the smoke in satellite imagery. The embedded moderate smoke/aerosol mixture was visible mainly over the western Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, a portion of eastern and southern Mexico, and off the southern coast of Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. DUST: Texas/Northeastern Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico… A broad area of generally thin density blowing dust attributed to yesterday’s strong winds over northern Mexico and portions of the south central and southwestern U.S. was seen this morning over a sizable part of south central and eastern Texas, northern and northeastern Mexico, and the western Gulf of Mexico where the dust eventually merged with the smoke/aerosol mixture spreading northward from Mexico. The southern portion of the dust was moving more to the east while the northern portion over eastern and southeastern Texas and the northwestern Gulf of Mexico was moving more to the northeast. Cloud cover farther to the east and northeast over the U.S. prevented information in satellite imagery on the extent of the dust. 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