DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z June 20, 2023
SMOKE: Canada/United States/Atlantic Ocean/Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of Southwestern Canada and the Western U.S… Despite some areas of cloud cover, significant wildfire activity was still noted scattered across the area stretching from the southwest part of the Northwest Territories and northeastern British Columbia eastward to central and southern Quebec. Visible smoke was also prevalent over a good portion of Canada and extending southward into much of the U.S. east of the Rockies. Additionally, the smoke stretched well offshore of eastern Canada and the eastern U.S. over the Atlantic likely reaching Europe. More smoke from these fires appeared to spread to the southwest and south from western Canada offshore over the Pacific Ocean and then back inland over portions of California. The thickest smoke was seen over central and southern Quebec as well as central and northern Ontario and the southern part of Hudson Bay. Smaller patches of thicker smoke were also seen across parts of British Columbia. Moderate smoke was visible across some of the central U.S. and extending to the east over the Great Lakes region and Northeast though significant cloud cover over the eastern and southeastern U.S. limited additional information on the extent and density of smoke in these regions from satellite imagery. It is also likely that the smoke from the Canadian fires merged with smoke from fires in Mexico somewhere over the south central and southeastern U.S. SMOKE/AEROSOL: South Central and Southwestern U.S./Mexico/Western Gulf of Mexico/Northwest Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico… A large area of light to moderate density smoke covered Mexico, the western Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean well south and southwest of southern Mexico, and portions of the southwestern and south central U.S. The thickest smoke in the region was located over western, southern, and eastern Mexico as well as the Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest of the southern coast of Mexico. The smoke from this whole region likely merged with the smoke from the Canadian fires somewhere over the south central and southeastern U.S. It is likely that some aerosols from industrial activities in Mexico and Central America may also be present with the smoke over this large region. 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