DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1550Z May 01, 2023
SMOKE: Western Canada and Northwestern United States…. Several large fires in south central Alberta were producing an area of mostly light smoke that was extending from the southern Northwest Territories southwest through portions of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and into portions of the Northwestern United States. Some thin density smoke may have reached as far southeast as the Upper Midwest and Central Plains of the United States but it is difficult to distinguish between the possible very thin density smoke and aerosols which may be dust transported all the way from significant dust storms occurring in some of the desert regions of Asia over the past week or two. An area of moderate to high density smoke was within this area and over portions of eastern Alberta. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast, Western Caribbean Islands, Western Caribbean Sea, Southern Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Northwest Central America and the Pacific Ocean extending well south of the southern Coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America…. The ongoing seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America along with a few wildfires especially in southern Mexico were responsible for a very large area of generally light to moderate density smoke which extended from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Southeastern United States west and southwest through the western Caribbean Islands, western Caribbean Sea, southern Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, northwestern Central America to the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of Mexico and northwestern Central America. Moderate density smoke was within this area and extended from the northwestern Caribbean Sea west through southern and central Mexico, northwestern Central America and into the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of northwestern Central America and southwestern Mexico. It is also possible that some aerosols from industrial activity particularly in Mexico and Central America may be within this large area of smoke. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Southeastern United States, Gulf Coast, Northern Gulf of Mexico, South Central United States and Central Rockies…. A thin density aerosol was visible this morning extending from Georgia west along the northern Gulf Coast States, northern Gulf of Mexico and through the South Central United States and into the Central Rockies. It is possible that this aerosol may be primarily composed of dust kicked up from significant dust storms in some of the deserts of Asia occurring in the past week or two which has been transported across the Pacific and over portions of the United States. It is also possible that smoke from the larger fires occurring in western Canada may be part of the aerosol seen especially in the area of the Southern Plains and Central Rockies. Hanna 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