DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0139Z May 15, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/Far Western and Northwestern U.S./Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of the U.S. and British Columbia/North Central U.S./Northeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean Extending Well off the East Coast of Canada and the U.S… An extremely large area of smoke of varying density attributed to a number of large wildfires burning in portions of northeastern British Columbia, and the northern and central parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces of western Canada could be seen throughout today covering much of Canada from eastern and southern British Columbia eastward to Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes. Some of the smoke also spread to the south and southeast extending into the far north central U.S. and the northeastern U.S. The huge mass of smoke was also seen across portions of the northern and central Atlantic likely reaching Europe. The thickest smoke including areas of very dense smoke was present over the region of wildfire activity including northeastern British Columbia, northern and central Alberta, most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the northern part of Ontario and the southern portion of Hudson Bay. Patches of moderate to even some thick density smoke were visible over the Atlantic. It is likely that smoke from the ongoing significant burning season in Mexico and Central America including a few wildfires was mixing in with the smoke from the western Canada wildfires somewhere over the Atlantic off the coast of the southeastern U.S. In addition, some of the smoke has spread to the west and southwest in an arced band impacting southern and western British Columbia, the far northern and western part of the Pacific Northwest, and even a small portion of northern and central California as well as offshore of the West Coast of the U.S. and British Columbia. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southwestern U.S./South Central, Central, and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… An extensive area of smoke linked mainly to the ongoing widespread and intense burning season along with a few wildfires in Mexico and northwestern Central America was seen today over much of Mexico and northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest of the southern coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America, most of the Gulf of Mexico, and portions of the southwestern, central, south central and southeastern U.S., and extending offshore of the Southeastern U.S. well out over the Atlantic Ocean where it likely eventually merged with smoke from the western Canada wildfires. Thick clouds over part of the Great Plains region and Upper Mississippi Valley region prevented information through satellite imagery on any smoke which might be present in those regions. More significant cloud cover over the western Gulf of Mexico, far eastern Mexico, and some of southeastern Mexico also prevented information on the density of smoke which is likely present in those regions. Areas of thicker smoke embedded within the larger region of thinner density smoke were visible over portions of Mexico and Northwestern Central America, and off the southern coast of Mexico over the Pacific Ocean. While the majority of what is seen in satellite imagery is believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity mainly in Mexico and Central America may be mixing in. Eglin 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