Saturday, February 25, 2023

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z February 25, 2023

SMOKE/AEROSOL:
South Central and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean off
the Southeastern U.S. Coast/Eastern and Southern Mexico/Northwestern
Central America/Caribbean Sea/Cuba/Pacific South of Southern Mexico and
Northwestern Central America…
A huge mass of primarily thin density smoke/aerosol was again seen this
morning over much of the same area recently impacted over the past
number of days. The northern edge of the smoke/aerosol mix stretched
from far southern Texas eastward across the U.S. Gulf Coast region and
offshore of the southeastern U.S. over the Atlantic just north of the
Bahamas. Cloud cover farther north and inland over the south central
and southeastern U.S. though did prevent information through satellite
imagery on the northern extent of the smoke/aerosol mix. In addition, the
smoke/aerosol mix also covered the Gulf of Mexico, eastern and southern
Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Pacific south of the southern
coast of Mexico and northwestern Central America, the western part of
the Caribbean Sea, and Cuba.

For the smoke part of the mix, smoke from seasonal fires and a few
wildfires across Cuba spread to the west over the Caribbean Sea and
eventually merged with smoke from seasonal fire activity across Mexico and
Central America which was generally moving to the north. The resultant
mix then moved over the Gulf of Mexico and then to the northeast across
a portion of the southeastern U.S. where it merged with smoke from some
fire activity across the southeastern U.S.

For the aerosol component of the mix, aerosols from industrial activity
primarily in Cuba, Mexico, and Central America were believed to be
transported along with the smoke from these regions.

A few patches of embedded moderately dense smoke/aerosol mix were also
visible this morning along and off the coast of southeastern Mexico and
northwestern Central America, over the Bay of Campeche and far western
Gulf of Mexico, over portions of Cuba and the Caribbean to the south and
southwest of Cuba, and along and off the west coast of Florida over the
far eastern Gulf of Mexico.

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

 


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.