DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0215Z May 11, 2024
SMOKE: Southeastern United States... A large area of predominantly light density smoke attributed seasonal burning and the residual smoke from previous day’s activity was seen throughout the southern U.S. region where it extended northeast into the Coastal Atlantic region. The combination of the smoke present within the Gulf of Mexico and the residual smoke present within the southeastern U.S. created a large mass of smoke that was observed blowing northeast in direction from the Gulf Coast towards the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of northern Florida. Arizona... Two ongoing wildfires located in the north-central region of Arizona were observed emitting light to moderate density smoke plumes that were dispersing northeast in direction this evening. British Columbia... Numerous large wildfires located in northeastern British Columbia and into the Northwest Territories were seen emitting light to moderate density smoke plumes that were traveling eastward in direction, just crossing the northwestern border of Alberta. These plumes then dispersed and combined with residual smoke from previous day’s activities, creating a mass of light to moderate density smoke extending from the northeast corner of British Columbia into Alberta and Saskatchewan. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea/Central-Southern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean... A large area of predominantly light to moderate density smoke attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity throughout central-southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America was observed this morning extending from the Gulf of Mexico, through the western portion of the Caribbean sea, central-southern Mexico, Central America and into the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coastlines of Mexico and Guatemala. Areas of higher density smoke and aerosols were observed over Central America, the Bay of Campeche and the Gulf Coast. Aerosols from a composite of volcanic emissions and industrial sources in Mexico, and gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche contributed to the expansive area of aerosol/smoke observed throughout 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