DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0130Z April 16, 2023
SMOKE: Eastern U.S/Atlantic Ocean Off the U.S. East Coast… A large area of what is believed to be mainly thin density smoke was seen over the eastern U.S coastline states and extending well off the east coast over the Atlantic Ocean. Another area of observable smoke was seen over in Ohio, southern Ontario, and parts of Michigan and Lake Huron. The smoke previously was seen over much of the eastern U.S areas such as the Midwest and southeastern U.S, but cloud cover made it difficult for the smoke to observed in this evening’s analysis. The source of this smoke was likely daily rounds of seasonal burning occurring in the central U.S. though some contribution from the seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America may also be mixing in especially over the Gulf of Mexico and extending over some of the southeastern U.S. and offshore of the southeastern U.S. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Caribbean Sea/Northwestern Central America/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… The ongoing huge mass of primarily thin to moderate density smoke attributed to the widespread and significant seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America was seen this evening over the southern and eastern part of Mexico, northwestern Central America and extending to the south well off the southern coast of Mexico and Central America over the Pacific Ocean. The smoke also stretched to the north possibly reaching southern Texas and to the northeast over much of the Gulf of Mexico where it likely spread inland over the southeastern U.S. and eventually merged with smoke from the recent seasonal fire activity concentrated in the central U.S. Additional thin density smoke mainly from seasonal fire activity in Cuba spread to the west over some of the Caribbean and over the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico where it merged with the smoke emanating from Mexico and Central America. The thickest smoke within this huge area was located over northwestern Central America, southeastern and far eastern Mexico, and the Bay of Campeche. While the majority of this aerosol is believed to be composed of smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity in Mexico and Central America may be mixed in. BLOWING DUST: South Central U.S.… An area of thin to moderate density blowing dust was seen moving to the south/southeast across the eastern part of New Mexico, portions of western and northern Texas, and western Oklahoma. The dust likely moved east, where it likely mingled with the smoke from fire activity in the central U.S. Cloud cover however prevented further analysis on the regions. Towards south within Oklahoma and Texas, it was also difficult to distinguish between the dust and volcanic aerosol from the eruption from the Shelveluch Volcano, which is discussed in the section after. VOLCANIC AEROSOL: Area Extending from Northwestern Canada to the South and Southeast To Western Oklahoma and Northern Texas… A large area of what is believed to be primarily sulfur dioxide (SO2) was visible this morning extending from portions of the Yukon and Northwest Territories of northwestern Canada to the south and southeast over Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado before curving to the east over northeastern New Mexico, northwestern Texas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and far southwestern Kansas. Cloud cover farther to the east over the north central and central U.S. prevents additional information on this aerosol from satellite imagery. Information from the Washington and Montreal Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers indicate that while the majority of this aerosol is believed to be SO2, some ash may still be mixed in up over Canada. The source for this was the Sheveluch Volcano which had a recent significant eruption in the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia. Nguyen 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