DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0125Z March 29, 2024
SMOKE: Midwestern and Southeastern United States... A large area of light density smoke attributed to moderate to heavy seasonal agricultural burning throughout the Midwest was observed in the central Midwest and parts of the southern U.S Gulf states. The light density smoke extended south from central Iowa and along the Mississippi river, where the smoke settle off the coast of eastern Texas and into the Gulf of Mexico. Some of this smoke is likely remnant smoke from the numerous fires observed yesterday in eastern Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Within the region, moderate to thick density smoke plumes were observed in Arkansas and eastern Texas, with the plumes in Arkansas moving northeastward while the smoke in Texas was moving in more eastward direction. In addition, the heavy seasonal burning in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma formed a moderate patch of density smoke also moving northeast before cloud cover cover the region. Outside of the large area of smoke, numerous smoke plumes also from seasonal agricultural burning were seen scattered across southeastern U.S and moving southward, with the moderate to thick density smoke plumes observed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Some of the smoke plumes in the southeastern U.S states of southern Alabama and western Florida were seen extending south well into the Gulf of Mexico. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Western Caribbean Sea/Central America... A large area of light to moderate density smoke originating from widespread fire activity in Central America, mixed with aerosol from a composite of volcanic and industrial emissions in Mexico was observed over central/southern Mexico, southern half of the Gulf of Mexico, and the western portion of the Caribbean Sea. This combination of smoke and aerosol was seen extending from the Caribbean Sea northwest just off the coast of southern Florida It was also seen extending southwest from the Caribbean Sea into northern Central America, where the smoke/aerosol was noted to be moderate to even heavy in density in some regions. 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