DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z March 27, 2022
SMOKE: Central, South Central, and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Bahamas/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast… A large area of mostly thin density smoke attributed primarily to recent and ongoing widespread seasonal type fire activity and a few scattered wildfires over portions of the central, south central, and southeastern U.S. was seen this morning over all of those regions and across the Gulf of Mexico and off the southeast U.S. coast also impacting the Bahamas. Within this large area of thin density smoke was a long and very narrow swath of moderate density smoke which was moving to the southeast and extended from near Memphis, Tennessee to south of Atlanta, Georgia this morning. It is possible that especially over the southern portion of this large area of smoke, that some smoke from the widespread and significant seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America may also be mixing in. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of Mexico and Central America/Cuba/Caribbean Sea… A large mass of thin to moderate density smoke mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was visible today over much of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, Central America, Cuba, and the southern part of the Caribbean Sea. The moderate areas of smoke were generally seen over eastern Mexico, the far western Gulf of Mexico along and off the eastern Mexico coast, the Bay of Campeche, southern Mexico, and extending south off the southern coast of Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. As stated in the paragraph above, it is possible that some of the smoke and aerosol is likely mixing with smoke being transported to the south and southeast from the seasonal and scattered wildfire activity occurring in the central and south central U.S. This mixing is more likely over the northern Mexico, southern Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, and Cuba. 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