DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z March 14, 2023
SMOKE: Texas/Louisiana/NW Gulf of Mexico… Light to moderate to perhaps heavy smoke production was seen emanating from agricultural fire activity across eastern Texas and Louisiana. Smoke from this activity was observed extending south-southwestward to southwestward from the parent activity, in some cases, over 100 miles with a couple reaching out over the Gulf of Mexico. The thickest smoke was seen emanating from fires in central Louisiana and east-central Texas. Central Plains… Widespread fire activity was observed from far southeastern Nebraska to northern Arkansas with scattered light to moderate smoke production observed moving to the southeast. Widespread cloud cover was observed across central Kansas and much of Oklahoma, with another area of overcast over Missouri and points north and east, prevented the analysis of both fire and smoke across these areas. Even though it could not be analyzed, it is likely that fires with smoke production were present across at least some of Missouri, central Kansas, and much of Oklahoma today. SMOKE/AEROSOL… Southeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the Southeastern U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Central and Western Caribbean Sea/Hispaniola/Jamaica/Cuba/Southern, Central, and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of Mexico and Central America… A large area of varying density smoke was observed extending from the tropical Pacific ocean into the Sargasso Sea and the southwestern North Atlantic. The thickest portions of this layer existed across eastern Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Campeche. Moderate density smoke was seen across much of southern Mexico and extending west-southwestward out over the Pacific Ocean; from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras southwestward over the Pacific Ocean; and from Cuba northeastward across the Florida Strait and the Bahamas. The northern edge of the layer was being shunted off toward the south due to a cold front moving through the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Peninsula. Hosley 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