Saturday, April 23, 2022

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0139Z April 24, 2022

SMOKE:
Central, Eastern U.S...
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 Minnesota in
the north, continuing south through Texas and east through the eastern
U.S. and over that Atlantic south of New England. Heavier areas of smoke
was observed over Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. This smoke continues
south combining with the smoke in the "SMOKE/AEROSOL" section.

New Mexico...
Ongoing wildfires in New Mexico are spreading a long mostly moderate
density smoke plume that extends across parts of the Oklahoma and Texas
Panhandles,
Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

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.

Southeastern New Mexico/Northern Mexico/Texas...
An area of generally light to possibly moderate density blowing dust
was observed moving east from southeastern New Mexico, northern Mexico,
and northern/western Texas as evening approached. This dust could stretch
further east but cloud cover precluded further analysis.

BLOWING DUST:
Pacific Ocean, Alaska...
The significant swath of blowing dust from the Gobi Dessert in Asia
continues to be seen spreading to the east across the Pacific south
of Alaska encroaching on British Colombia and the Pacific northwestern
United States.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.