DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z December 18, 2022
SMOKE/AEROSOLS: Florida/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeastern U.S. Coast… Patches of thin density aerosol which is likely composed at least in part by recent days of seasonal/agricultural fire activity in the southeastern U.S. was visible this morning over a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and extending to the east over the north-central part of the Florida peninsula and off the east coast of Florida and the southeastern U.S. coast over the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Cloudiness in this region though did interfere somewhat with the extent of the smoke/aerosol. Southern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean off the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A sizable area of thin density aerosol originating from gas flaring activity in Bay of Campeche and urban/industrial activity in Mexico with some contribution from smoke associated with recent days of seasonal fire activity in Mexico continues to be analyzed over the a portion of the Bay of Campeche, southern Mexico, northwestern Central America, and the Pacific Ocean off the southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America. Cuba/Caribbean… Several smoke plumes were noted this morning over Cuba and to the south of Cuba over the Caribbean. This smoke was due to ongoing daily seasonal type fire activity in Cuba possibly mixed with aerosols from industrial sources in Cuba. JS 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