DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1400Z July 18, 2024
SMOKE: Canada/United States/Atlantic Ocean... A significant amount of mixed density smoke attributed to a combination of seasonal fire activity in Canada and the United States has produced a large mass of observable smoke. Starting from the Northeastern province of British Columbia and then mixing with smoke from various regional wildfires, a large mass of smoke (ranging from light to heavy density) stretched across the northern continental plain before dispersing into the Atlantic Ocean. As the mass moved towards the east, light to moderate density smoke was observed dispersing down from Canada into the USA, covering almost the majority of the Continental United States. Oregon... In Central Oregon, significant amounts of light to heavy density smoke was observed emanating from the ongoing Falls Wildfire. From the wildfire, a plume of moderate to heavy density smoke was observed blowing South roughly 50 miles prior to then being blow to the Northeast, where it dispersed and mixed into the remnant smoke from Northern Canada. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central-Southern Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Central America/Cuba/Hispaniola/Pacific Ocean... A large area of predominantly light to moderate smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central-southern Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula, Central America and northern South America was observed today over southern Mexico, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean off the southern coastline of Mexico, and east over the northern Caribbean Sea. Moderate smoke was visible over the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America. Aerosols from a composite of volcanic emissions and industrial sources in Mexico contributed to the expansive area of aerosol/smoke seen in these regions today. DUST: A moderate amount of Saharan dust was seen moving westward into the Atlantic Ocean, a lighter amount of Saharan dust was seen moving into the eastern Caribbean Sea toward Puerto Rico. Cardona 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