DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1550Z May 3, 2023
SMOKE: Central United States, Northwestern United States, Central Canada and Western Canada…. Thin density smoke from a few wildfires and a large amount of seasonal fire activity was noted today in Canada extending from southern British Columbia through most of Alberta to southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, southwest Ontario, the Northern Plains, Northern and Central Rockies and into the South Central United States and the northern Gulf Coast region. It is also possible that some dust from significant dust storms in the desert regions of Asia over the past couple of weeks may be mixing in with smoke from the fire activity. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean off the Southeastern United States Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Western Caribbean Islands, Western Caribbean Sea, Mexico, Northwestern Central America and the Pacific Ocean well south of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A very large area of thin to moderate density smoke, from ongoing fire activity and a few wildfires in Mexico and Central America, was seen from the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast extending west and southwest through the Gulf of Mexico, western Caribbean Islands, western Caribbean Sea, most of Mexico, northwest Central America to the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of northwest Central America and southwest Mexico. Moderate density smoke was seen within this area from central and southern Mexico and extending northeast into most of the western Gulf of Mexico and into southern Texas. Earlier today, UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Northern Plains of the United States, Southeastern United States and offshore the Southeast United States Coast… An area of thin density aerosol was seen from the Northern Plains extending southeast to the Southeastern United States and offshore into portions of the Atlantic Ocean. It is not known for certain, but this aerosol may be composed mostly of dust transported aloft all the way from the desert regions of Asia where significant dust storms have occurred in the past couple of weeks. Hanna 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