DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0118Z April 23, 2022
SMOKE: Central, Eastern U.S... Widespread agricultural burning and wildfire activity was observed throughout the central and eastern United States. These fires combined with remnant smoke blanketing the area with light density smoke that included large areas of moderate density smoke. The smoke stretches from South Dakota in the north, continuing south through Texas and east through the Gulf states extending northeast off the Virginia coast. Heavier areas of smoke was observed over Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. This smoke continues south combining with the smoke in the "SMOKE/AEROSOL" section. Arizona... The Crooks Fire south of Prescott and the Tunnel Fire north of Flagstaff in Arizona were continuing to emit Mostly moderate to heavy smoke which spread to the northeast over eastern Colorado and Nebraska. This smoke was combining with thick blowing dust in the region. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central U.S./Mexico/Central America/Western Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America... The large mass of generally light to moderate density smoke from seasonal fire activity occurring in Mexico and Central America mixed with aerosols from oil and gas flaring and other industrial sources in the region was observed covering a large part of Mexico with the exception of the northwest portion, northwestern Central America, the Bay of Campeche, the western Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific extending well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. The smoke likely extends up over portions of the south central U.S. where it mixes with smoke from the southwestern U.S. wildfires and southeastern U.S. seasonal fire activity. A few smaller embedded areas of thick density smoke were seen today especially over southern and southeastern Mexico with the biggest one along and off the coast of south central Mexico. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska... A large area of thick density blowing dust could be seen extending from Teas in the south all the way up to Nebraska in the north. This blowing dust is combining with the thick smoke from the Crooks Fire south of Prescott and the Tunnel Fire north of Flagstaff in Arizona. Smoke and scattered cloud cover over the area precluded further analysis. BLOWING DUST: Pacific Ocean, Alaska... The significant swath of what is likely blowing dust from the Gobi Dessert in Asia continues to be seen spreading to the east across the Pacific just south of the Gulf of Alaska approaching on British Colombia. . Eglin 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