DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1715Z May 24, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/Greenland/Atlantic Ocean... Numerous wildfires located throughout Canada, from northeast British Columbia to the south-central part of the Northwest Territories and the north-central and central regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to burn despite being concealed by persistent cloud cover. Due to the significant presence of ongoing wildfires and recently developed ones throughout these areas, a large area of smoke ranging from light to moderate density continue to cover a majority of Canada, extending from central Yukon and the Northwest Territories, across the majority of the Canadian provinces and regions near the North Pole, and extending into the North Atlantic Ocean just south of Greenland. Areas of higher density smoke continue to be seen in areas close to the larger wildfires, such as those located in northeast British Columbia, northwest Alberta and the south-central region of the Northwest Territories. Central United States... An area of light density smoke was seen throughout the Upper Midwest region of the United States where it combined with the area of Canadian smoke and further extended southwest into portions of the South Central United States, beginning in the Gulf States, this area of light density smoke began to combine with the large other large area of Mexican/Central American smoke. New Mexico... Two suspected wildfires located in north-central and central New Mexico were observed emitting light to moderate density smoke plumes that were dispersing east in direction. The plume of the suspected wildfire located in central New Mexico was moderate in density and extended as far as the New Mexico-Texas border. Florida... Several agricultural burns originating from the surrounding areas of Lake Okeechobee were seen emitting plumes of light smoke dispersing southwest towards the Gulf of Mexico. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Caribbean Sea/Central-Southern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean... A large area of predominantly light to moderate density smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central-southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America was observed this morning 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 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 today. 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