DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z April 12, 2022
SMOKE: Central U.S… A combination of fire activity from seasonal and agricultural burning produced large area of thin density smoke that was observed over central and eastern Kansas, eastern Nebraska, all of Iowa, a part of western Illinois, and northern Missouri progressing eastward. Moderate density smoke was observed over eastern Kansas slowly progressing northwestward. Widespread cloud cover is prevalent extending from the central U.S. to the north and east over the Great Lakes region, the Ohio Valley, the Tennessee Valley, and portions of the southeastern U.S. which prevented detection of any smoke using satellite imagery which might still be present in these areas. Significant seasonal fire activity over the past few days in the central U.S. likely resulted in leftover smoke which could be present in some of the areas where cloud cover is occurring. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central U.S/Gulf of Mexico/Eastern and Southern Mexico/Cuba/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… A large area of mainly light density smoke possibly mixed with other aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was seen this evening over much of eastern and southern Mexico, northwestern Central America and extending to the south over the Pacific off the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. The smoke and possible other aerosol mixture was also seen extending over most of the Gulf of Mexico, extending into western Cuba, and northward to the border of Oklahoma and Kansas. Moderately dense smoke was observed over eastern Mexico and extending into central Gulf of Mexico and off the southern coast of Mexico. Widespread cloud cover extending through the southeastern U.S difficult to detect the full extent of the smoke/aerosol mix within the Southeastern U.S. DUST: Nevada/Utah/Colorado/Arizona/New Mexico... Blowing dust was visible this evening over western and southwestern U.S spreading eastward. The dust was observed covering southern Nevada and moving eastward through southern Utah and western Colorado while extending southward in parts of northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. Widespread cloud cover over much of the western and central western U.S made the full extent of the dust up to the northern state borders of Nevada and Utah and potentially into central Colorado difficult to detect in the satellite imagery. 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