DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z May 16, 2022
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Eastern three-fourths of the CONUS/Gulf of Mexico/Western Caribbean/Eastern and southern Mexico/Central America... Wildfire activity across western New Mexico, namely the Black and Bear Trap fires, were observed producing thick smoke this morning. Smoke from these fires was moving north-northeastward into south-central Colorado. From there, along with remnant thick smoke from yesterday, smoke was moving southeastward. Lighter, remnant smoke was observed across the Intermountain West and into the plains moving east-southeastward behind a cold front located across the Appalachians. Further light smoke was seen across the Sargasso Sea, the Bahamas, Cuba and the western Caribbean. In addition to that, further contributions were observed from southern and eastern Mexico and northern Central America. Much of the smoke in more mountainous areas was dominated by terrain flow, with smoke favoring a southwestward motion from coastal southern Mexico and a westward motion across the Yucatan. Gas flaring and other urban emitters contributed additional aerosols to the portion of plume over eastern Mexico, the western Gulf of Mexico, and the Bay of Campeche. Saharan dust may also contribute a small amount to the drawn layer over the tropical Eastern Pacific. BLOWING DUST: Tropical Atlantic/Eastern Caribbean… Dust originating from the Sahara can be seen just moving over the Leeward Islands and into the eastern Caribbean. A new invigoration of dust can also be seen extending off the coast across the Cabo Verde islands to about 35W. Hosley 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