DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0124Z May 15, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/North Central and Northeastern United States/Atlantic Ocean Numerous large wildfires located throughout portions of Canada from the southern regions of the Northwest Territories and northeast British Columbia, extending eastward to the southern regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to burn today. Due to the large amount of wildfires throughout these areas, a very large mass of smoke ranging from light to thick covered a majority of southern Canada, extending southeast along the Canadian and U.S. border, the smoke continued moving eastward through the north-central and northeastern regions of the United states. The thickest density smoke was observed surrounding the larger fires in the northeast corner of British Columbia, northern Alberta,eastern Alberta, western Saskatchewan and the southern Northwest Territories. Areas of moderate smoke were also observed covering portions of north-central Canada, north-central U.S. and the northeastern United States. Persistent cloud cover throughout southwestern Canada is most likely concealing thicker smoke. United States Pacific Northwest... Fire activity was observed throughout the US Pacific Northwest. Several mostly light density smoke plumes were seen in Oregon and Idaho, the smoke was generally moving south in direction through the region. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central-Southern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Florida/Atlantic ocean/Cuba/Jamaica/Central America/Pacific Ocean... A large area of predominantly light and moderate density smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central and southern Mexico, Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula was observed extending from the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula through central-southern Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Central America and into the Pacific Ocean off the southern coastline of Mexico. The smoke also continues east from the Gulf through Florida and out into the Atlantic ocean. Areas of higher density smoke and aerosols were observed over southern Mexico, northern Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. 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. 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