DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z March 21, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S./Middle Atlantic Region/Great Lakes Region/Northeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the East and Southeast U.S. Coast/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Western Caribbean Sea… A large mass of primarily thin density leftover smoke linked to significant widespread seasonal fire activity yesterday in the central and southeastern U.S. was seen this morning over portions of the southeastern U.S., Middle Atlantic region, Great Lakes region, and the Northeast. The remnant smoke also extended offshore of the Middle Atlantic and southeastern U.S. over the Atlantic Ocean and spread to the south and southwest from there over the northern Bahamas, western Cuba, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Embedded patches of moderately dense leftover smoke were noted moving to the northwest over far northwestern Georgia, and moving to the west over the north central Gulf of Mexico just south of the southwestern Alabama and far western Florida panhandle coastal areas. Significant cloudiness over the central U.S. limited smoke detection from satellite imagery in that region. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America… A mixture of mainly thin density smoke from seasonal fire activity and aerosols from industrial activity both originating from portions of Mexico and Central America was seen this morning over southern and eastern Mexico, some of northern Central America, and extending well to the south of Mexico and Central America over the Pacific Ocean. Some of the smoke/aerosol mix had also spread to the north over the Bay of Campeche and far western Gulf of Mexico. 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