DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z February 4, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern Texas/Western Gulf of Mexico… An area of thin to moderate density remnant smoke, traced back primarily to a relatively larger fire in southwestern Louisiana yesterday, was seen this morning over the far western Gulf of Mexico and inland over portions of southeastern Texas. The smaller embedded patch of moderate density smoke was present from just off the southeastern coast of Texas extending to the northwest over Galveston and the southeastern part of the Houston metro area. Cuba/Caribbean Sea… Mainly thin density remnant smoke from widespread seasonal fire activity in Cuba along with newly forming additional smoke plumes this morning was visible across portions of Cuba and spreading to the southwest over the Caribbean Sea. SMOKE/AEROSOL/DUST: Southern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Southern Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A very large mass of a mixture of primarily thin density smoke/industrial aerosol/dust was seen this morning over southern Mexico, Northwestern Central America, and extending well off the southern coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America over the Pacific Ocean. It is believed that the western and northwestern portion of this large area was likely mainly composed of smoke from ongoing seasonal fire activity in Mexico while the areas farther to the east off the southeastern coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America were composed primarily of aerosols from industrial activities in the region and blowing dust which was emanating and moving to the south especially from sources in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca and the southern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Volcanic plumes which added to the aerosol mixture were noted spreading to the southwest and well offshore from at least a couple of volcanoes in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Ash from the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City was moving to the south and fanning out in multiple directions. 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