DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1735Z April 25, 2024
SMOKE: Southeastern United States... Several light to moderate smoke plumes attributed to seasonal agricultural burning throughout the region were observed moving generally southwestward this morning. Florida... Several agricultural burns originating from the surrounding areas of Lake Okeechobee were seen emitting plumes of light to moderate smoke which then dispersed westward towards the Gulf of Mexico. Central Northern America... Light remnant smoke was observed across the southern Prairie Provinces, The Great Plains, and southeastern United States. The likely parent fire activity was located across the Prairie Provinces and the Upper Midwest. Smoke moving northwestward from the Gulf of Mexico likely contributed to the remnant smoke throughout the southeastern U.S. as well. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea/Central-Southern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean... A large area of light to moderate density smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central-southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America was observed this morning extending from the Gulf of Mexico through the western portion of the Caribbean Sea, central-southern Mexico, Central America and into the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coastline of Mexico. Areas of higher density smoke and aerosols were observed over the southwest portion of the Gulf of Mexico and the southwestern coastlines of Mexico and Guatemala. Aerosols from a composite of volcanic emissions and industrial sources in Mexico, and gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche contributed to the expansive area of aerosol/smoke observed throughout these regions this morning. DUST: Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean… Saharan dust and smoke from previous days burning was observed this morning over the central/eastern Caribbean Sea and northern South America, where the dust and smoke combine. The Saharan dust was seen moving westward towards Puerto Rico. It was also noted that Saharan dust was seen extending westward from the Sahara just out over the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. 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