DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z May 9, 2023
SMOKE: Western and Eastern Canada/Nunavut/Northeastern U.S... Numerous very large wildfires over Alberta, portions of British Columbia and Saskatchewan were producing a large area of moderate to thick density smoke that was extending from central Alberta northwest through portions of northern British Columbia and into western and central portions of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Due to weather conditions, the large light and moderate density parts of the smoke was observed moving east across most of Nunavut, south through most of Hudson Bay and parts of northern Manitoba, southeast through most of Ontario and parts of western Quebec, and reaching as far south as the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Northeastern U.S. Northern Plains, Central U.S., and South Central Canada…. Thin density smoke was seen extending from portions of the Northern Plains of the United States from the fires in south central Canada to the larger and higher density smoke from some fires in the area but mostly from the wildfires over Alberta. Cloud cover over most of CONUS especially over the SE corner of the U.S. left gaps of visible light density smoke plumes in central U.S.This smoke continues to the south combining with the “SMOKE/AEROSOL” section. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Central United States, South Central United States, Southeastern United States, Atlantic Ocean off of the southeast coast, Gulf of Mexico, Western Caribbean Islands, Western Caribbean Sea, Mexico, Northwestern Central America and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of Northwestern Central America and Southwestern Mexico…. A very large area of thin to moderate density smoke from ongoing fire activity in Mexico and Central America was seen extending from the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of the southeast coast west through the Southeastern, South Central, and the Central United States with moderate reaching southwest Iowa, Gulf of Mexico, western Caribbean Islands, western Caribbean Sea, Mexico, northwestern Central America and into the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of the northwestern Central America. Moderate density smoke was seen within this region over central and southern Mexico, northwestern Central America and the Pacific Ocean just offshore of northwestern Central America and southwest Mexico. This moderate density smoke may extend into the Western Gulf of Mexico but cloud cover prevented further observations in this area. In addition, thick density smoke was seen just offshore of southeastern Mexico and northwestern Central America over in the Pacific Ocean Rodriguez 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