DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700 May 12, 2022
SMOKE: New Mexico... The large wildfires burning in north-central New Mexico, particularly the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires, were observed producing a combined plume of moderate to thick density smoke extending northeastward into western Colorado and over parts of Kansas. The smoke may extend further north into central U.S over parts of Nebraska and South Dakota though cloud cover has precluded analysis over this region in this morning’s analysis. Ontario/Central U.S/Eastern U.S... An area of light to moderate density smoke from the Hermits Peak, Calf Canyon, and Cerro Pelado wildfires in New Mexico with contributions from recent burning activity was observed over the Mid-West starting from southern Ontario then continues southwest covering all of Texas and into eastern New Mexico, then east covering most of the eastern U.S., A large area of moderate density smoke stretches from Iowa east all the way into western New York, continuing as far south as the U.S Gulf states and into parts of the northeast Gulf of Mexico. This smoke continues south mixing with "SMOKE/AEROSOL" section. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Texas/Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Pacific... A large mass of light to moderate density smoke from heavy seasonal fire activity mixed with aerosols from oil/gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was observed covering most of Mexico, southern Texas, parts of Central America, the Bay of Campeche, most of the Gulf of Mexico, and extending well offshore south of Mexico and Central America into the Pacific. Moderate density smoke covered the western Gulf of Mexico, most of the Bay of Campeche, and eastern and southern Mexico, as well as extending south into the Pacific through the southern coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America. BLOWING DUST: New Mexico... An area of generally light density blowing dust was observed moving southeast/east over northern New Mexico . 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