DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z February 21, 2024
SMOKE: Eastern an Central CONUS/Northern Gulf of Mexico… A sizable area of light smoke resultant from previous days’ agricultural burning across the southeastern and central CONUS was observed blanketing an area from the Great Lakes to the northern Gulf of Mexico and from the Central Plains to the Bahamas, Mid-Atlantic, and far southwestern Quebec. The smoke was moving south-southwestward across the Mid-Atlantic and northern Gulf of Mexico with some being dragged south-southeastward across Florida. Smoke observed over the Tennessee Valley was moving eastward and smoke over the eastern Great Lakes was moving northeastward. The agricultural burning across the southeastern and central CONUS continues this afternoon. The light smoke across coastal Carolina, coastal Georgia and the Florida Peninsula was observed moving south to south-southwestward, whereas smoke across south-central Georgia and the Florida Panhandle was moving westward. Smoke from activity stretching from central Mississippi to central and northern Georgia was mainly moving northward. Cuba… Remnant areas of light smoke were also observed over Cuba and the surrounding waters. The smoke was moving southward to south-southeastward. The parent activity was likely agricultural burning across Florida from yesterday, with perhaps some small contribution from burning across Cuba. Scattered agricultural burning continues to be seen across Cuba, with all smoke light and moving southward. AEROSOL/SMOKE… Southern Mexico/Southern Bay of Campeche/Central America/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico… An area of light density aerosol from a composite of smoke due to agricultural burning and industrial sources across southern Mexico was observed covering an area extending from the southern Bay of Campeche both north-northwestward along the Mexican Gulf Coast as far north as Texas and southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and out over the Gulf of Tehuantepec and Tropical Pacific Ocean. Some contributions from further fire activity across Guatemala, coupled with perhaps a small amount of blowing dust and volcanic ash, was seen adding to the larger area of aerosol BLOWING DUST… Southwest Arizona into West Texas… Dust was observed being lofted from a couple sources across southeastern Arizona, northern Chihuahua, and West Texas. Dust was being transported northeastward across southeastern Arizona and Northern Chihuahua into extreme southern New Mexico, while lighter dust was moving north across the West Texas Panhandle. Hosley 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