DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z April 22, 2023
SMOKE: Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S… Significant cloud cover was present over the area stretching from eastern North Carolina northward across the Northeastern U.S. which prevented the detection of any smoke in satellite imagery which may be present from the large fire which was still burning in the Croatan National Forest in eastern North Carolina. Southerly wind flow near the fire and extending well north of the fire should be pushing the smoke generally in a northward direction. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central and Central Texas/Southeastern U.S./Gulf of Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… Significant and widespread seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America resulted in a very large area of primarily light to moderate density smoke which covered much of southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, the Pacific Ocean well south of the southern coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, southern and west-central Texas, and some of the southeastern U.S. The thickest smoke appeared over Northwestern Central America, Southeastern Mexico and the Bay of Campeche. Although most of what is seen in satellite imagery was believed to be smoke, some aerosols from industrial activity primarily from Mexico and Central America may be contributing. UNKNOWN AEROSOL: Western and Central Canada/North Central and Central U.S./Ohio and Tennessee Valley Regions/Great Lakes Region… A large area of unknown mainly thin density aerosol was visible this morning over portions of eastern British Columbia, most of Alberta, the western half of Saskatchewan, and the southern part of the Northwest Territories in Canada. The aerosol also extended to the southeast over central and eastern Montana, northeastern Wyoming, and across Nebraska and northern and eastern Kansas and the southern part of Missouri passing south of Kansas City. From there, the aerosol curved more to the northeast and eventually to the north over portions of the Tennessee and Ohio Valley regions reaching as far north as Michigan, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior before cloud cover prevented detection in satellite imagery. The aerosol was likely moderate in density in a very narrow stripe in the area stretching roughly from west central Nebraska to south central Missouri. While it is not known for certain, it is very possible that this aerosol is dust which originated from major dust storms in the desert areas of Asia a number of days ago and has been transported aloft over a significant distance across the Pacific and over Canada and the U.S. 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 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