DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z April 6, 2023
SMOKE: Central Plains… Yesterday’s round of seasonal burning primarily in eastern Kansas is responsible for a leftover patch of thin density smoke which was located over a portion of northeastern Colorado, southern Nebraska, and western and central Kansas. Newly forming smoke plumes were beginning to be visible with today’s round of seasonal fire activity in eastern Kansas. Northwestern and Western Texas/Eastern New Mexico/Western Oklahoma… A remnant batch of thin density smoke was observed spreading to the southwest, west, and northwest over portions of northwestern and western Texas, eastern New Mexico, and around the common border of Colorado/Kansas/Oklahoma. This smoke was believed to be mainly from a larger fire in southwestern Oklahoma in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Southeastern and Eastern U.S./Atlantic off the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. Coast… Significant cloud cover over the southeastern and eastern U.S. prevented smoke detection through satellite imagery though it is very possible that smoke from the seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America was present in some of this region. Some possible residual thin density smoke was barely visible extending from the Mid-Atlantic coastal region to the northeast and just off the southern coast of Massachusetts over the Atlantic Ocean. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southwestern Texas/Gulf of Mexico/Hispaniola/Cuba/Caribbean Sea/Northwestern Central America/Eastern Half of Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… Significant and widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America resulted in a very large mass of primarily thin to moderate density smoke which blanketed much of the eastern half of Mexico, portions of Central America, the Pacific off the coast of southern Mexico and northwestern Central America, the southern and western Gulf of Mexico, and far southwestern Texas. Some aerosols from industrial activities originating in Mexico and Central America may also be mixed in with the smoke. Cloudiness in various places including Texas and inland over the southeastern U.S. and Mid-Atlantic region prevented the location of any smoke through satellite imagery which might still be present in those areas. Moderate to even smaller thick density areas of smoke were seen over some of southeastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, and extending over the Bay of Campeche. In addition, more smoke mixed with aerosols originating from seasonal fires and industrial sources in Cuba and Hispaniola was observed spreading to the west over some of the central and western Caribbean and then to the northwest over the southern Gulf of Mexico where it likely merged with the smoke/aerosols originating from Mexico and Central America. An apparent wildfire in central Hispaniola was emitting moderate to thick density smoke which moved to the west this morning. 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