DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1710Z April 18, 2024
AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central-Southern Mexico/Central America/Gulf of Mexico/Pacific Ocean... Ongoing widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central-southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America contributed to a large mass of predominantly light density smoke with several areas of slightly more dense smoke and aerosols, was observed covering central-southern Mexico, northern Central America, the western portion of the Gulf of Mexico, the adjacent Gulf States and the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coastline of Mexico. Aerosols from a composite of gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche contributed to the expansive area of aerosol and smoke seen in these regions today. Willkens 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