DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z May 24,2023
SMOKE: Canada/U.S./Atlantic... An exceptionally large area of smoke, emanating from the large wildfires occurring mainly in central and northern Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, and southwestern Northwest Territories, continues to impact significant portions of Canada, the United States, and extending off the east coast of the United States and into the North Atlantic Ocean. Moderate to very thick density smoke from the large wildfires in the Northwest Territories was seen moving southeast briefly before extending northeast across the region. Moderate smoke was also seen over the majority of the northern U.S. Cloud cover over portions of western and south-central Canada and northern U.S limited smoke detection from satellite imagery in those areas. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Pacific South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America... An extensive area of thin density smoke linked mainly to the ongoing widespread burning season along with a few wildfires in Mexico and northwestern Central America was detected over much of eastern and southern Mexico, all of northwestern Central America, most of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest off the southern coast of Mexico and Northwest Central America. This area of smoke may extend further north into the southern U.S, but cloud cover limited observations in these regions for this morning’s analysis. NGUYEN 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