DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 7, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern CONUS/Southern Plains/Mid-Atlantic… Mainly light to moderate density smoke plumes were seen emanating from agricultural burning activity across the southeastern CONUS and southern Plains from Texas to Georgia to New Jersey. A vast majority of smoke plumes were observed moving east-northeastward, with the exception of the Mid-Atlantic coast, where smoke was observed moving east-southeastward out into the Atlantic Ocean. The thickest smoke production was seen across eastern Texas and northern Lousiana, where moderate to thick density smoke was emitted. Cloud cover across portions of the southeastern CONUS (ArkLaTex early this afternoon, eastern Georgia into the eastern Carolinas late this morning into the early afternoon) prevented the analysis of smoke across those areas. Central Plains… Widespread agricultural burning activity was also noted across Kansas and Missouri today, with scattered smoke production noted moving smoke southward, implying a cold front that was moving through southern Missouri and northern Oklahoma. Much of the observed smoke was light in nature. Florida/Southern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Central America/Cuba/Hispaniola/Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico… Widespread fire activity across the northern Caribbean Islands, Central America, and Mexico, along with gas flaring in the Bay of Campeche, was helping to create a large blanket of smoke that covered Hispaniola, Cuba, much of the southern half of Mexico, portions of Central America and the Yucatan, the Bay of Campeche, the western Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the US Gulf Coast states, and into the Sargasso Sea and the Bahamas. The thickest smoke in the layer was located over the western Gulf Coast through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into the Gulf of Tehuantepec and southwest out across the tropical Pacific Ocean. Thicker smoke was observed across southwestern Mexico and from the western Caribbean north through the area between the Yucatan and Cuba and into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Hosley 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