DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0126Z March 22, 2023
SMOKE: Southeastern U.S./Atlantic Coastal Region/Great Lakes Region/Northeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the East and Southeast U.S. Coast/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Western Caribbean Sea… A large mass of thin to moderate density smoke linked to significant widespread seasonal fire activity today in the central and southeastern U.S. was seen over portions of the southeastern U.S., Atlantic coastal region, and the Great Lakes region. The smoke also extended offshore along eastern U.S. coastline over the Atlantic Ocean and spread to the south and southwest from there over the northern Bahamas, northern and southern Cuba, Hispaniola, and the Gulf of Mexico. Embedded patches of heavy density could be seen throughout the far southeastern U.S. and over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Denser areas of smoke probably exist in the southeastern U.S. where the burning was heavy but cloud cover late in the day precluded further analysis. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southern Texas/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central America… A mixture of mainly thin density smoke from seasonal fire activity and aerosols from industrial activity both originating from portions of Mexico and Central America was seen today over Southern Texas, most of the Gulf of Mexico, southern and eastern Mexico, some of northern Central America, and extending well to the south of Mexico and Central America over the Pacific Ocean. 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