DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1640Z March 30, 2023
SMOKE: Central and eastern CONUS… widespread agricultural burning from yesterday’s activity produce a large area of remnant thin density smoke, which extended from eastern Nebraska and Kansas, through the Ohio Valley region, and eastern U.S, where the smoke reached northern regions of Alabama and Georgia while extending east through the Mid-Atlantic and into the Atlantic Ocean off out North Carolina and Virginia. Several individual smoke plumes were seen outside the large area, most noticeably Florida and southern Georgia. This large area of remnant smoke is likely more expansive in the Central U.S region but heavy cloud cover extending from Mexico to Nebraska prevented further observations in this morning’s analysis. In addition, a patch of remnant moderate density smoke was seen over in South Carolina and parts of Georgia, like produced from activity in both Central and Eastern CONUS. 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/Caribbean Sea/Hispaniola/Jamaica/Cuba... Similar to yesterday’s analysis, a mixture of thin 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 over most of Mexico, Central America, Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern coast of the U.S. In addition,the smoke/aerosol mix present in the Gulf of Mexico is combination from both the seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America mixed with activity from Cuba and Hispaniola. A moderate patch of smoke was present over southern Mexico and the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coast of Mexico. This smoke/aerosol mix may mingled with smoke from agricultural burning in the U.S but cloud cover over most of Mexico and the U.S preclude further analysis. Nguyen 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