DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z May 13, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/Northeastern U.S./Atlantic Ocean Extending Well off the East Coast of Canada and the U.S… A very large area of smoke attributed to a number of large wildfires burning in portions of northeastern British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan provinces of western Canada was visible this morning extending from western Canada eastward over much of the remainder of Canada and extending to the south over the Northeastern U.S. From there, the smoke spread well off the coast of Canada and the U.S. out over the open Atlantic. Within the large mass of thinner density smoke were sizable areas of moderate to thick density smoke which covered northeastern British Columbia, much of the northern and central parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Moderate density smoke was noted over northern Manitoba, the southeastern part of the Northwest Territories, southwestern Nunavut, and western Hudson Bay. Cloud cover over Quebec limited information on the density of the smoke from satellite imagery but enough breaks in the clouds offshore allowed for areas of moderate density smoke and even a couple of relatively small patches of thicker density smoke to be seen over the Atlantic. Also, it is likely that smoke from the ongoing intense seasonal fire activity along with a few wildfires occurring in Mexico and Central America is merging with the smoke from the western Canada wildfires somewhere off the southeast U.S. coast over the Atlantic. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Southwestern U.S./Central and Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast/Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… An extensive area of smoke linked mainly to the ongoing widespread and intense burning season along with a few wildfires in Mexico and northwestern Central America was seen this morning over much of Mexico and northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest of the southern coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America, most of the Gulf of Mexico, portions of the southwestern, central, and southeastern U.S., and extending offshore of the Southeastern U.S. over the Atlantic Ocean where it likely merged with smoke from the western Canada wildfires. Thick clouds over part of the south central U.S. and across the area from the north central U.S. to the Mid-Atlantic region prevented information through satellite imagery on any smoke which might be present in those regions. Areas of thicker smoke embedded within the larger region of thinner density smoke were visible over the Bay of Campeche and the far western Gulf of Mexico along with portions of eastern and southern Mexico, and northwestern Central America. While the majority 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. JS 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