DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z March 30, 2022
SMOKE: South Central and Southeastern U.S./Mid-Atlantic Region/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico… Significant cloud cover is present over a large part of the eastern half of the U.S. which greatly limits the ability to detect any smoke from satellite imagery which may be present in this area. Through some breaks in the clouds, a patch of relatively thinner density smoke from large wind whipped wildfires in northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma was seen moving mainly to the south this morning and mixing with blowing dust in the region. Farther to the east, an area of thin density remnant smoke attributed primarily to recent rounds of seasonal fire activity and a few Spring season wildfires occurring over portions of the South Central and Southeastern U.S. was visible through breaks in the clouds extending from southern Virginia and central and eastern North Carolina to the east and southeast and offshore of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. coast before thinning out between the Bahamas and Bermuda. Additionally, a large area of thin to moderate density smoke linked to ongoing significant seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America had spread to the north and covered much of the Gulf of Mexico and over the coastal areas of southern and southeastern Texas and the central Gulf Coast region. The moderate density smoke was located more over the western Gulf of Mexico and extended southward down into southeastern Mexico and the Bay of Campeche. Over northeastern Mexico, southern and eastern Texas, and the western Gulf of Mexico, some smoke from the larger wildfires in northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma and blowing dust was likely mixing in with the smoke being transported north from Mexico. Cloud cover farther inland over the south central and southeastern U.S. prevented information on the northward extent of the smoke over the U.S. from satellite imagery. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... A broad region light to moderate density smoke from seasonal fire activity mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was observed covering a large part of southern, eastern, and southeastern Mexico, as well as the Bay of Campeche, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean extending well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. Moderate density smoke/aerosol covered the western Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, portions of southern and eastern Mexico, and south of the coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America. DUST: Oklahoma/Texas/Northeastern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico… A batch of mostly thin density blowing dust mixed with smoke from the larger wildfires in northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma was seen in that region and moving farther to the south and east over western and north central Texas, and southwestern and south central Oklahoma. Somewhat thicker blowing dust was also seen farther to the south and east along the western end of significant cloud cover across northeastern Mexico, and from south central to north central Texas. The dust may extend farther to the east and northeast but cloud cover prevented additional information from satellite imagery. It is also likely mixing with smoke from the northwestern Texas and western Oklahoma wildfires and from fires farther to the south in Mexico. 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