DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0140Z March 31, 2023
SMOKE: Central and Eastern US... Widespread agricultural burning from yesterday and today has resulted in a large area of thin density smoke, which extended from eastern Nebraska and Kansas, through the Ohio Valley region, and eastern U.S, where the smoke reached the northern parts Alabama/Georgia while extending east through the Mid-Atlantic and into the Atlantic off North Carolina and Virginia coasts. Within this thin density smoke, several areas of moderate density smoke were detected, primarily over the western part of the North and South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northeastern Georgia. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Florida/Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Central America/Pacific/Caribbean... A mixture of thin density smoke from seasonal fire activity across the Yucatan, the southern half of Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and Hispaniola in addition to aerosols from industrial activity both originating from portions of Mexico and Central America and gas flaring in the Bay of Campeche was detected over most of Mexico, Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and the Atlantic off the east coast of the U.S. In addition, the smoke/aerosol mix present in the Gulf of Mexico is combination from both the seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America mixed with activity from Cuba and Hispaniola. A moderate patch of smoke was present over southern Mexico and the Pacific off the southwest coast of Mexico. DUST: Mexico/Southern Rockies/Great Plains... A large area of blowing dust associated with a deepening low pressure over western Kansas was detected over north-central Mexico, much of New Mexico, western Texas and Oklahoma, and western Kansas. This dust area was moving quickly to the northeast. Konon 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