DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z March 24, 2024
SMOKE: Central and Southern United States... Numerous fires, with most likely related to seasonal burning, were observed producing smoke plumes from Indiana to Kansas and Missouri to Mississippi. Several fires, including ones in northwestern Indiana, southern Illinois, Arkansas, and southern Mississippi were observed producing smoke of up to heavy density. Other fires in the region were mainly producing smaller plumes of light smoke. The plume over southern Mississippi extended over the adjacent waters of the Gulf of Mexico. An area of remnant smoke was also observed mixed with clouds over the southeastern U.S. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/West Caribbean Sea/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico/Central America... Widespread fire and smoke activity was observed across central Mexico and much of Central America. This activity was contributing to a large area of mixed aerosols and smoke which extended over the southern Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean Sea, and coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean. MTC 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