DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0020Z February 5, 2023

SMOKE:

Cuba/Caribbean Sea…
Mainly thin density remnant smoke from widespread seasonal fire activity
in Cuba along with light density smoke plumes was seen 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 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. Earlier in the day, 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, however cloud
cover precluded further analysis in these regions for this evening’s
analysis.

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

Unless otherwise indicated:

Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.

Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.

A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.

Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.