DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z January 24, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: 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 covering much of the central and southern Gulf of Mexico and extending northeast across the Gulf of Mexico before cloud cover obscured further analysis. 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 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/Caribbean Sea… An area of thin density smoke/aerosol from rounds of seasonal burning and industrial activity was present across central and parts of southern Cuba, while extending into parts of the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba and north of Cuba into the Atlantic Ocean. DUST: Southern California/Northwestern Mexico/Gulf of California… Blowing dust of thin to possible moderate/thick of density was observing moving south from California, across Northwestern Mexico and into the Gulf of California. Nguyen 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