DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0220Z June 22, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/U.S./Atlantic/Pacific... Significant wildfire activity continued especially over western Canada including northern and northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and the southwest part of the Northwest Territories as well as central and eastern Canada including west-central Ontario and central and southern Quebec. Smoke from these fires covered a large part of Canada and extended southward into parts northwestern U.S. and a significant portion of the central and eastern U.S. The smoke also had spread across parts the North Atlantic. The thickest smoke linked to the wildfires in Ontario and Quebec was observed over central Ontario and central Quebec. A much larger surrounding area of moderate smoke mainly from the Ontario and Quebec fires affected parts of south-central/southeastern Canada and the north-central U.S. including the Great Lakes region. Farther to the west, patches of thicker density smoke were noted over central and eastern British Columbia and northern Alberta. It is likely that the smoke from the Canadian fires merged with smoke from the fires in Mexico somewhere over the south-central and southeastern U.S. SMOKE/AEROSOL: U.S./Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Central America/Pacific... Seasonal fires and a few wildfires continue to burn mainly in Mexico. As a result, a large area of light with patches of moderate density smoke covered Mexico, the western Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific well south and southwest of southern Mexico, and portions of the southwestern and south-central U.S. It is likely that some aerosols from industrial activities in Mexico and Central America may also be present with the smoke over this large region. DUST: Caribbean... The western and leading edge of a large area of Saharan dust was detected spreading to the west in the vicinity of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Konon 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