DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1700Z April 29, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Texas/Louisiana/Gulf of Mexico/Western Caribbean/Northwestern Central America/Mexico/Pacific... Significant and widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America with aerosols from industrial activities originating in Mexico and northwestern Central America resulted in a very large area of primarily light to moderate density smoke which covered much of southern/central Mexico, the western Caribbean, northwestern Central America, the Pacific off the coast of southern Mexico and northwestern Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and southern Texas and Louisiana. Moderate density areas of smoke were seen over southern/eastern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, northwestern Central America, and the western Gulf of Mexico. Heavy density smoke was found over northwestern Central America, parts of southeastern Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, and the Yucatan. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: South Central U.S... A patch of unknown aerosol was observed briefly extending over Oklahoma and parts of northern Texas. The aerosol may likely be a combination of remnant sulfur dioxide from the eruption of Shelveluch volcano and lofted dust originating from central/eastern Asia. This unknown aerosol may extend further east into the Midwest and Eastern CONUS regions but cloud cloud made it difficult for detailed analysis. Montana/Alberta... Brief remnant to light density smoke from small wildfires and seasonal burning within western Canada and the U.S was seen over the border between southern Alberta and northwestern Montana. 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