Tuesday, March 28, 2023

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 29, 2023

SMOKE:
Central U.S…
Widespread agricultural burning was observed from southern Wisconsin
and northern Illinois into Kansas with slightly more scattered activity
across Oklahoma, Texas Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. From this fire
activity, light to moderate smoke production was observed. An area of
high pressure slowly moving eastward across eastern Kansas, which was
causing smoke production across northern Kansas, southeastern Nebraska,
far northern Missouri, Iowa, far southeastern Minnesota, Wisconsin and
northern Illinois to move east-northeast to east, while smoke was moving
southwest across southeastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, south across
eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and western Arkansas, and southeastward
across eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and northern Alabama.

Southeastern CONUS…
An area of widespread cloud cover extending from central and
southern Texas along the Gulf Coast and into the Carolinas and much of
Florida. This widespread cloud cover is likely obscuring at least some
fire activity and smoke production across the region, especially across
Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where the Last Resort fire in eastern
North Carolina was still detected but any smoke production was masked.

SMOKE/AEROSOL:
Florida/Atlantic Ocean off the Florida Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and
Eastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and Central
America/Central and Western Caribbean Sea/Hispaniola/Jamaica/Cuba...
A mixture of thin to moderate density smoke from seasonal fire activity
across the Yucatan, the southern half of Mexico, Central America, Cuba,
and Hispaniola in addition to aerosols from industrial activity both
originating from portions of Mexico and Central America and gas flaring in
the Bay of Campeche was seen today blanketing an area from the tropical
Eastern Pacific to the northern Caribbean and the Bahamas. The thickest
smoke was present across the western Gulf of Mexico, from coast of
Guatemala west-southwestward, and off the southwest coast of Mexico. Much
of the smoke across the Pacific continues to move southwestward to
west-southwestward, while a front over the northern Gulf of Mexico that
extends into the Atlantic is helping to shunt some of the smoke southward
over the northern Gulf of Mexico and eastward across Florida and out into
the Atlantic. Smoke is also moving west-northwestward to northwestward
from Hispaniola, Cuba, the Yucatan, and the Bay of Campeche.

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

 


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.