DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z March 28, 2023
SMOKE: Central U.S... A great amount of seasonal fires over Iowa, eastern Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas, and northern Mississippi were responsible for many individual thin to locally moderate density smoke plumes moving to various directions. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America/Central and Western Caribbean Sea/Hispaniola/Jamaica/Cuba... 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 today across southern and eastern Mexico, portions of Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and portions of the south central and southeastern U.S. stretching from far southeastern coastal Texas eastward to Florida and southern Georgia and off the coast from there over the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, seasonal fire activity occurring in Hispaniola and Cuba, was responsible for thin density smoke which spread to the west from those areas over the central and western Caribbean and then to the northeast toward the Gulf of Mexico where it eventually merged with the smoke/aerosols originating from Mexico and Central America. Embedded moderate areas of smoke from seasonal fire activity mainly in Mexico, were visible along and off the southeastern coast of Mexico over the Pacific Ocean, and across eastern Mexico and over some of the Bay of Campeche. Earlier This Morning... UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Area from Central U.S. to Appalachians… A very thin density aerosol was seen this morning extending from the central U.S. eastward to the Appalachians. The origin of this aerosol is not definitely known, but there is some possibility that it may be composed partly by dust which has been transported aloft all the way from the desert regions of Asia. It also may contain some smoke from recent seasonal fire activity in the central, south central, and southeastern U.S. YL 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