DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0013Z April 5, 2023
Smoke: Central and Eastern United States, Atlantic Ocean... Fire activity in the central and eastern U.S. was producing an area of mostly light smoke (with some denser smoke close to the sources) that was seen extending over the eastern U.S. to include the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern U.S. coast. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast Coast of the United States, Gulf Coastal States of the United States, South Central United States, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Western Caribbean Islands, Eastern and Southern Mexico, Northwest Central America and the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of Southwest Mexico and Northwestern Central America... A mixture of thin to moderate density smoke from seasonal fire activity in Mexico, Central America and the western Caribbean Islands and aerosols from industrial activity also originating from portions of Mexico and Central America was seen extending from the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast Coast of the United States towards the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coastal States, South Central United States, western Caribbean Islands and Caribbean Sea, eastern/central southern Mexico, northwestern Central America and into the Pacific Ocean south and southwest of southwest Mexico and northwest Central America. This area of smoke/aerosol mix may extend further north into the Gulf States of the U.S, but cloud cover prevented further analysis. Blowing Dust: Texas/New Mexico/Utah/Kansas/Nebraska... Large swaths of mostly moderate to heavy blowing dust could be seen originating from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, southeastern New Mexico, and Mexico south of New Mexico. The blowing dust was generally moving northeast into western Texas, western Oklahoma, most of Kansas, and southwestern Nebraska this evening. The thickest areas of blowing dust was from around the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles all the way north to Nebraska. This dust could be further east and north but a high pressure system in the south and a low pressure system in the north precluded further analysis this evening. New Mexico... Moderate blowing dust could be seen originating from the White Sands National Park and the White Sands missile test range in south-central New Mexico. This dust was moving northeast with the other conglomerated dust this evening. 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