Saturday, January 28, 2023

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0041Z January 29, 2023

SMOKE
Southeastern United States/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast Coast/Gulf
of Mexico...
A large amount of light to moderate density smoke plumbs attributed
primarily to widespread seasonal burning in the southeastern U.S. was
creating a large area of light density smoke with pockets of moderate
density smoke. It covered northern Florida extending off the coastal
Atlantic while stretching northeastward into southern South Carolina and
extending across the southern portion of the Gulf states into Louisiana
extending into the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Some of the thicker
smoke plumes were seen over much of northern Florida and and southern
Alabama moving west and northwest as evening approached.

Pacific Northwest...
A number of wildfires and seasonal/prescribed type fire activity was
observed throughout British Columbia and Alberta. A light to moderate
density smoke plume was observed in Alberta moving generally southeast
but snow in the background camouflaged other smoke in this area.

Cuba/Jamaica/Caribbean Sea...
Light to moderate density smoke from recent rounds of seasonal burning
throughout Cuba and Jamaica was extending southwest into the surrounding
Caribbean. In northern Cuba the smoke is moving north into the Caribbean
Sea.

SMOKE/AEROSOL:
Texas/Western Gulf of Mexico/Eastern and Southern Mexico/Northwestern
Central America/Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern Mexico and
Northwest Central America…
A huge area of primarily thin density aerosol, composed in part by
industrial activities in Mexico and seasonal fire activity also in
Mexico, was visible today covering parts of eastern and southern Mexico,
some of northwestern Central America, and extending south of those areas
well out over the Pacific. The thin density smoke/aerosol mixture also
stretched to the north over the western Gulf of Mexico and southern Texas.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.