DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z April 9, 2022
SMOKE: South Central and Southeastern U.S… Smoke of varying density was seen this evening stretching from southern Oklahoma and much of Texas eastward to the Carolinas and extending to the south over the Gulf of Mexico, across Florida, and off the southeastern U.S. coast. Within this larger area of thinner density smoke was a moderate to thick swath of leftover smoke which extended from northern Louisiana to southern Mississippi. Another band of moderate density remnant smoke stretched from southeastern Texas to over the Gulf of Mexico to the south of the Louisiana coast. Finally, a third patch of moderate density smoke was located over a portion of southeastern Alabama, southwestern Georgia, and the Florida panhandle. All three areas of relatively thicker smoke were moving to the east and southeast. Farther to the south, a larger area of moderate smoke covered the southern Gulf of Mexico, southern Florida, and extended northeast of there to off the southeast U.S. coast. The source for this smoke was recent mainly seasonal fire type activity along with a few wind fanned wildfires over the central and south central U.S. Farther to the south, some residual blowing dust from yesterday’s dust event which originated over portions of the south central and southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico may be present especially along the Gulf Coast region and over the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, some smoke from the widespread ongoing significant seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America may be contributing to smoke/aerosols seen over the Gulf of Mexico, possibly the Florida peninsula, and off the southeastern U.S. coast. Montana/Wyoming/Colorado… Earlier today, a batch of remnant thin density smoke was visible moving to the south and southeast over central and eastern Montana, central and eastern Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado. This smoke was likely from recent mainly seasonal/prescribed type fire activity across the northwestern U.S. SMOKE/AEROSOL/DUST: Florida Peninsula/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Mexico/Central America/Pacific off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America/Atlantic off the Southeast U.S... A very large mass of what is believed to be mainly thin to moderate density smoke was visible this evening over much of Mexico, most of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, the Florida peninsula, and extending off the southeastern U.S. coast over the Atlantic and off the southern coast of Mexico and Central America over the Pacific. The moderate density smoke was seen more over a portion of southern and eastern Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, and across the southern Gulf of Mexico and crossing over southern Florida and off the southeastern U.S. over the Atlantic. Moderate density smoke was also seen along and off the southern coast of Mexico over the Pacific. The source of the smoke was the widespread ongoing seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America though some contribution from seasonal fires and a few wildfires occurring in the central and south central U.S. may also be occurring across the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and off the southeastern U.S. coast. Cloud cover over the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America and off the southern coast of Central America limited information on the extent and density of the smoke from satellite imagery. Some blowing dust which originated yesterday over portions of the south central and southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico and spread to the south and southeast may be contributing to the aerosol particularly over the Gulf of Mexico and possibly the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Also, some of the aerosol farther to the south around Mexico, Central America, and the Bay of Campeche and Gulf of Mexico may be attributed in part to oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico. DUST: South Central Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Southern Alberta... Blowing dust was observed in eastern Washington and southern Alberta. A large region of blowing dust was observed over south central Oregon with blowing dust progressing eastward in this evening’s GOES visible satellite imagery. Sambucci 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