DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1735Z March 22, 2024
SMOKE: Central/Eastern United States… An area of thin to moderate density smoke attributed to heavy seasonal burning was observed in the Midwest from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska continuing northeast into central Iowa, then continuing east along the Great Lakes region. This thin to moderate density smoke was also seen extending throughout the southeastern U.S. region, until it was seen dispersing just off the Coastal Atlantic. Mid-Atlantic United States… An area of light to moderate density smoke from several fires over the last few days in northern Virginia and West Virginia produced remnant smoke that was seen disbursing to the east over the Mid-Atlantic region, with the moderate density smoke concentrated mainly over northern Virginia and Maryland, presumably due to a large wildfire in Shenandoah National Park. Due to a large amount of cloud cover in this region analyzing individual smoke plumes was difficult. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/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 with aerosol from a composite of volcanic emissions in Mexico and industrial sources was observed over a significant portion of the Gulf of Mexico, extending southeast towards Cuba and the Caribbean sea. This composite of smoke and aerosol was also seen covering areas of Central America and the Pacific ocean off the south coast of Mexico and the west coast of Central America. Willkens 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