DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z December 3, 2022
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S… Scattered presumably agricultural burns were observed across portions of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida this afternoon. Smoke was mainly moving wet-northwestward from the source fire with more northward movement as one looks more west over Alabama and Louisiana. It is likely that more smoke and agricultural burning is present across other portions of the southeastern CONUS (Mississippi, eastern Texas, northern Alabama, and northern Georgia) but due to broken to fully overcast skies over these areas, analysis of smoke is nearly impossible. Kansas… Two grassland fires broke out in the wake of a strong frontal passage this afternoon. With winds to 40 mph gusting to 60 mph, these two fires spread rapidly south-southeastward across Kansas with moderate smoke production. The smoke plumes’ exact leading edge is difficult to discern due to the presence of a blowing dust event (further described below, see BLOWING DUST:) Central California… In the central portions of California’s Central Valley, along with the mountain ranges north of the Bay area, widespread fire activity was analyzed. Although a little smoke production was noticed, cloud cover moved in across both these areas and severely hampered the ability to analyze smoke. As such, more smoke may be present near these areas than is shown. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Bay of Campeche/Western Mexico/Baja/Pacific off the Western Coast of Mexico… An area of thin to moderate density of aerosol of uncertain composition was detected moving to the northwest over portions of western Mexico, the southern half of the Baja peninsula and Gulf of California, and extending westward out across the Pacific Ocean from the western coast of Mexico. This aerosol was believed to be composed of pollution from urban/industrial sources in south-central Mexico, in addition to small contributions from seasonal fire activity in southern Mexico. A patch of thin density smoke from oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche was seen moving to the west. DUST: Central CONUS… A widespread blowing dust event was observed starting throughout eastern Colorado and extending/moving south and east across southern Nebraska and Kansas and into southwestern Iowa, western Missouri, and perhaps (uncertain due to cloud cover) northern Oklahoma and the northern portions of the North Texas Panhandle. This event occurred due to the passage of a strong cold front which brought winds of 40 mph or more with gusts over 60 mph. 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