DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0142Z March 22, 2024
SMOKE: Central/Eastern United States… An area of thin to moderate density smoke attributed to heavy seasonal burning was seen from Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma in the west continuing east into southern Minnesota, then south and east continuing throughout the eastern U.S., until it was seen dispersing just off the Coastal Atlantic region. Moderate to thick density smoke plumes were noted throughout the entire area. A large area of moderate to possibly locally thick smoke was observed over eastern Nebraska and eastern Kansas through Illinois and Iowa and into southern Indiana and Kentucky. Mid-Atlantic United States… An area of light to moderate density smoke from fires in northern Virginia and West Virginia were disbursing to the east over the Mid-Atlantic region, with the moderate density smoke concentrated mainly over Virginia and Maryland. Northern California… Numerous scattered fires in northern California could be seen producing a light density area of smoke which moved generally north as evening approached. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Florida/Cuba/Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Western Caribbean Sea/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico/Central America... A large area of predominantly light density smoke originating from widespread fire activity in Central America and northern South America, mixed in with aerosol from a composite of volcanic emissions in Mexico, and industrial sources was noted over most of the Gulf of Mexico, to the east over Cuba, the Florida peninsula and the coastal Atlantic, Central America and the Pacific ocean off the coast of southern Mexico and Central America. 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