DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0005Z April 18, 2022
SMOKE: U.S. Gulf Coast Region/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Bay of Campeche/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... A large mass of primarily light density smoke from seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was observed covering portions of southern and eastern Mexico and Central America and extending to the north and northeast over the Bay of Campeche, most of the Gulf of Mexico, and inland over the U.S. Gulf Coast including southern and southeastern Texas, and Louisiana, in addition western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula. Additional smoke mixed in with aerosols linked to gas flaring and industrial/urban activities extended well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America over the Pacific. Small patches of moderate-density smoke could also be observed along the central Yucatan Peninsula were several larger fires were actively burning during the afternoon hours. The smoke remained mostly stagnant across the entire region with little lateral movement. DUST: Western Texas... A patch of light density blowing dust could be seen forming over dry land area in western Texas between the cities of Odessa and San Angelo. The dust plume was dispersing toward the southeast. WS 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