DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z March 31, 2022
SMOKE: Southern Texas/Northeastern Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico… Several larger wildfires in southern Texas and in northeastern Mexico were responsible for a large area of thin to moderate density smoke with a few much smaller embedded patches of thick smoke which impacted those areas as well as a portion of the western Gulf of Mexico. The smoke from these fires also likely merged with smoke spreading to the north from the ongoing widespread seasonal fires in Mexico. Florida… At least a couple of wildfires in southern Florida along with the usual daily agricultural activity around Lake Okeechobee were responsible for a broad area of mainly thin density smoke which affected at least the southern half or so of the peninsula and a portion of the nearby eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic to the east of the peninsula. The smoke may also extend farther to the north though cloud cover prevented detection of smoke from satellite imagery. Also, some of the smoke from the seasonal fire activity in Mexico may also be mixing in. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... A large mass of 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 and central Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, portions of southern and eastern Mexico, and south of the coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America extending southward over part of the Pacific. Areas of thick smoke were seen mostly over Guatemala. 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