DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z April 23, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: Far Southwestern and Southern Texas/U.S. Gulf Coast Region/Florida/Gulf of Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Pacific Ocean South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Central America… The ongoing 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, far southern and southwestern Texas, and the Florida peninsula. The thickest smoke appeared over Northwestern Central America, portions of southeastern Mexico, and some of 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: Central Canada/North Central and Central U.S./Southeastern U.S./Middle Atlantic Region… An area of unknown mainly thin density aerosol was visible this morning covering a broad area including the southern part of the Northwest Territories, northeastern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, and extending southward over much of the rest of Saskatchewan and far western Manitoba in Canada. From there, the aerosol extended to the south and southeast over Montana and the Dakotas to the Central Plains and Mid-Mississippi Valley region. Cloud cover over the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region prevented detection of any aerosol in satellite imagery which might be resent in that region. Farther to the east and southeast, a very thin density aerosol was seen over portions of the southeastern U.S. and Mid-Atlantic region as well. 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. Over the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region, it is also possible that some smoke from the widespread and ongoing seasonal burning occurring in Mexico and Central America may be contributing to the aerosol seen in satellite imagery. 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