DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z May 18, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest/U.S./Atlantic Ocean Extending Well off the East Coast of Canada and the U.S… An exceptionally large area of smoke of varying density attributed to a number of large wildfires burning in portions of northeastern British Columbia, the northern and central parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the southern part of the Northwest Territories of western Canada could be seen this morning covering much of Canada and virtually all of the northern half of the U.S. The smoke also then extended well offshore over the northern and central Atlantic likely spreading across some of Europe. In addition, some of the western end of the smoke appeared to be just off the northwest part of Washington as well as the British Columbia coast. Within the large mass of smoke were thicker areas which covered a good portion of western Canada and the northwestern and north central U.S. Thicker smoke also stretched from the Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley regions and western Great Lakes region eastward to the Mid-Atlantic region and offshore from there over the western Atlantic Ocean. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South 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/Mexico/Northwestern 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 this morning over much of the eastern half of Mexico and most of northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest of the southern coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, portions of the south central and southeastern U.S., and extending offshore of the Southeastern U.S. well out over the Atlantic Ocean. Within the larger mass of thin density smoke were areas of moderate to thick density smoke which were seen mostly over southern and southeastern Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, northwestern Central America, and some of the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of southern Mexico and Northwestern Central America. It is also likely that somewhere over the south central and southeastern U.S. and offshore over the western Atlantic Ocean the smoke from Mexico and Central America merges with smoke from the large wildfires burning in northwestern Canada. 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. 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