DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0124Z May 12, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/Central and Eastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the Northeast U.S. Coast… A very large area of smoke of varying density linked primarily to recent significant wildfire activity in western Canada continued to be seen covering much of Canada as well as most of the Great Lakes region and the northeastern U.S. and extending well offshore of the northeastern U.S. over the Atlantic Ocean south of the Canadian Maritimes. Moderate to potentially thick smoke was present extending across northern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, central Saskatchewan, and central Manitoba. Due to weather conditions, another separate large area of moderate smoke from the same wildfire activity in western Canada was visible over eastern Canada, mainly cover most of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This moderate dense smoke was also extending south into Northeast U.S, where it was last seen extending off the Atlantic coast. It is also possible that smoke from the intense burning season in Mexico and Central America may be mixing in with the smoke from the Canadian fires especially around Central and Southern United States. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Central U.S. and Eastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast/Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean Well to the South and Southwest of Northwestern Central America and Southern Mexico… The huge mass of mainly thin to moderate density smoke from the ongoing significant seasonal fire activity along with a few wildfires occurring in Mexico and Central America continued to be visible over most of Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest of the southern coast of Mexico and Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. The smoke likely extended north to engulf most of eastern and central U.S but heavy cloud cloud did not fully confirm this analysis today. While most of what is seen in satellite imagery is believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity mainly in Mexico and Central America may be mixing in. 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