DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z MAY 17, 2020
SMOKE:
Gulf of Mexico/Mexico/Central America/Pacific south of Mexico and
Central America…
Another day of widespread and significant seasonal fire activity across
western, southern, and eastern Mexico, and Central America resulted in
an expansive area of varying density smoke which covered the region and
extended up over the Bay of Campeche and the western Gulf of Mexico
possibly reaching the southern tip of Texas. Some of the smoke also
extended offshore of Mexico and Central America to the south over the
nearby Pacific. Within this large area of smoke were thicker patches
which primarily were seen over southern and southwestern Mexico, the
Yucatan Peninsula, and Honduras.
North Central U.S./South Central Canada…
A wildfire burning in central Saskatchewan was producing a plume
of moderate to thick density smoke which spread to the east and
northeast during the day with the smoke extending into west central
Manitoba. Farther to the south, mainly seasonal type fire activity across
southeastern Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, northern North Dakota,
and northwestern Minnesota was responsible for numerous smoke plumes
of primarily thin to locally moderate density, some of which merged to
form larger areas of leftover smoke across the region. In addition, a
narrow swath of remnant thin density smoke which is attributed to both
the wildfire in central Saskatchewan and daily seasonal fire activity
a bit farther to the south, was seen stretching from eastern Manitoba
across Ontario almost reaching the southern tip of James Bay.
JS
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: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg
GIS: ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/
KML: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire)
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke)
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO:
SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov