DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0043Z May 01, 2023
SMOKE: Western Canada/Northwestern and North Central U.S… Several large grassland fires west of Edmonton in south central Alberta was producing a light to thick smoke plume which was moving off to the northwest throughout today. Farther to the south, a wildfire in southeastern British Columbia between Kimberly and Cranbrook was responsible for a sizable area of varying density smoke which spread quickly to the north this evening. A fire in central Saskatchewan was producing light to medium density smoke plume which was moving off to the north. Thinner density smoke may have reached as far southeast as the U.S. Central Plains today but it is difficult to distinguish between the possible very thin density smoke and aerosols which may be dust aloft transported all the way from significant dust storms occurring in some of the desert regions of Asia over the past week or two. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Far Southern Texas/Florida/Gulf of Mexico/Western Caribbean/Northwestern Central America/Central and Southern Mexico/Pacific Ocean Extending Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America/Atlantic Ocean off SE U.S. Coast... The ongoing widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America along with a few wildfires especially in southern Mexico were responsible for a very large mass of generally thin to moderate density smoke which covered central and southern Mexico, northwestern Central America, the far southern tip of Texas, the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, most of the Florida peninsula, continuing northeast along the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. Coast, the western Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America. The thickest smoke was noted over spots of southern Mexico which was associated with what were believed to be wildfires that were occurring among the more numerous smaller seasonal fires in the region. Thicker smoke was also present over northwestern Central America where more concentrated seasonal burning was occurring. Cloud cover did interfere with some information on the extent of the thicker smoke which might be present in the area extending from the Yucatan Peninsula to western Cuba. It is also possible that some aerosols from industrial activity particularly in Mexico and Central America may be embedded within the large area of smoke. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: South Central Canada/Central U.S… A thin density aerosol was visible this today covering some of south central Canada from portions of Alberta extending to the east to western Ontario. The thin density aerosol then spread to the south and southeast over most of the Central U.S. extending as far south as the central and western U.S. Gulf Coast region. It is possible that this aerosol may be primarily composed of dust kicked up from significant dust storms in some of the deserts of Asia occurring in the past week or two which has been transported aloft all the way across the Pacific and over portions of Canada and the U.S. It is also possible that smoke from the larger fires occurring in western Canada may be part of the aerosol seen especially in the area from Montana to the Central Plains. 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