DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z March 23, 2022
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S… Fire activity producing light smoke plumes was visible in southwestern Georgia. Cloud cover has made smoke analysis difficult this evening across the rest of the southeastern U.S. Cuba/Caribbean… Areas of thin density smoke from ongoing seasonal fire activity in central and eastern Cuba were visible this evening moving westward. SMOKE/AEROSOLS: Florida/Cuba/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of Mexico… A large mass of light density smoke mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was visible this evening over Florida, northwest Cuba, 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. DUST: Texas/Northeastern Mexico... A broad area of generally thin density blowing dust attributed to today’s strong winds over portions of the southern Plains was seen this evening over parts of northern and southwestern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The southern portion of the dust in southeastern Texas and northeastern Mexico was moving southeastward while the dust in northern Texas was moving southward. Cloud cover farther to the east and northeast prevented analysis of the full extent of the dust plume. Northern Baja California... Another broad area of thin density blowing dust was seen this evening over northern Baja California. The blowing dust was observed progressing southward with portions of it visible in the northwest corner of the Gulf of California. Nguyen 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