DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z May 18, 2022
SMOKE: South Central and Southwestern U.S… The New Mexico wildfires were responsible for a sizable area of moderate to localized high density smoke which extended to the east northeast into northern Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Central and Eastern U.S/Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic off the U.S. East Coast… A large area of mostly thin density smoke with areas of moderate density smoke attributed to the New Mexico wildfires was seen covering much of the central and eastern U.S. and extending off the U.S. east coast over the far western Atlantic. The smoke also was present over the Gulf Coast region and Gulf of Mexico where it likely mixed with smoke from the ongoing significant seasonal fire activity along with a few wildfires burning in Mexico and Central America. Moderate density smoke was seen over portions of the southeastern United States and offshore southeastern New England. SMOKE/AEROSOL: U.S. Gulf Coast States/Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Pacific South of Mexico and Central America... A large area of mostly light to moderate density smoke from widespread ongoing seasonal fire activity and a few wildfires mixed with aerosols from oil/gas flaring and other industrial sources in Mexico was observed covering most of Mexico, parts of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico and extending well offshore south of Mexico and Central America into the Pacific. Moderate density smoke was seen over the southwest Mexican Pacific coastal areas and also over southeast Mexico. BLOWING DUST: Tropical Atlantic/Eastern Caribbean… The western end of a significant area of Saharan dust was overspreading portions of of the eastern and into the central Caribbean Sea. Hanna 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