DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1550Z May 15, 2023
SMOKE: Canada, Northeastern United States, Upper Midwest of the United States, Northern Plains of the United States and the Pacific Ocean off the Pacific Northwest United States…. An extremely large area of smoke from a number of large wildfires burning in portions of northeastern British Columbia, and the northern and central parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces of western Canada could be seen covering much of Canada from eastern and southern British Columbia east and southeastward through all of Canada to southern Quebec and through the Northern Plains, Upper Midwest to the Northeastern United States and offshore into the North Atlantic Ocean. The highest density smoke within this area was present over northeastern British Columbia, northern and central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, most of Manitoba and southern Ontario. Some moderate density smoke has spread to the southwest over southern British Columbia and into the Pacific Ocean off the Pacific Northwest Coast. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast, Southeastern United States, South Central United States, Gulf of Mexico, Northwestern Central America, Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of Northwestern Central Mexico and Southwest Mexico…. A large area of light density smoke from ongoing fire activity in Mexico and northwestern Central America was seen today extending from the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast United States Coast extending west through the Southeastern United States, South Central United States, the Gulf of Mexico, northwestern Central America, Mexico and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of northwestern Central America and southwestern Mexico. 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. 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