DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z January 23, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Florida/Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Guatemala/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A large mass of smoke from seasonal fire activity primarily in Mexico and industrial activity also mainly from Mexico was visible this morning covering much of the central and southern Gulf of Mexico and extending over the central Florida peninsula where it becomes obscured by cloudiness. The aerosol/smoke mixture was also present over the Bay of Campeche, portions of southern and eastern Mexico, and along and off the coast of southern Mexico and Northwestern Central America and well out over the Pacific Ocean. Within this generally thin density mixture of smoke/aerosol was an embedded batch of moderate to possibly thick density smoke/aerosol which was noted from the southern Bay of Campeche and stretching southward over southeastern Mexico and off the coast over the Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Pacific Ocean. Cuba/Hispaniola/Bahamas/Caribbean Sea/Atlantic North of Cuba to Northeast of the Bahamas… Areas of thin density smoke from rounds of seasonal burning in Cuba and Hispaniola and aerosols from industrial activity in those locations were seen this morning stretching from the western part of Hispaniola to the west over portions of Cuba and the Caribbean south of Cuba. The smoke/aerosol mixture also extended to the north and northeast over Cuba over the central Bahamas and out over the open Atlantic to the northeast of the Bahamas. 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