Thursday, May 30, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z May 31, 2024

SMOKE:
Western & Northern Canada/Arctic Ocean/Montana...
Numerous wildfires located throughout Canada from northeast British
Columbia, to the Northwest Territories/Alberta border and the central
regions of Alberta continue to burn today. The scattered to widespread
wildfire activity is responsible for an area of moderate smoke
that extends southeast from the parent activity into north-central
Montana. Some remnant smoke from burning over the past few days could
also be observed as far north as far northern Canada and perhaps the
Arctic. Due to cloud cover, uncertainty exists on the eastern extent of
the smoke from these wildfires.

Pacific NW/Intermountain West...
A couple fires scattered from Central Oregon into west-central Wyoming
were seen emitting light smoke this afternoon. The smoke was generally
moving eastward.

New Mexico...
Two fires located in north-central New Mexico were seen emitting moderate
to thick smoke today. The Indos wildfire located in Santa Fe National
Forest was seen emitting a moderate to thick density smoke plume that
was blowing east-southeastward to southeastward through the afternoon
and into the evening. A prescribed fire located in Carson National Forest
was also seen emitting a moderate density plume that was blowing eastward.

AEROSOL/SMOKE:
Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Caribbean Sea/Central and Southern
Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean...
A large area of light to moderate density smoke attributed to widespread
seasonal fire activity throughout central and southern Mexico and
Central America, with some contribution from gas flaring, was observed
this afternoon blanketing an area from the Tropical Pacific to the North
Atlantic. The Smoke/aerosol layer is most concentrated across southern
Mexico, the central Bay of Campeche, the western Gulf of Mexico, western
Guatemala, the Gulf of Tehuantepec, and the tropical Eastern Pacific. The
layer then extends northwestward into Texas and northeastern Mexico then
northward into the Mississippi Valley, east-northeastward across the
Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coast states, the Bahamas, and out into the North
Atlantic due to a frontal passage across the eastern North Atlantic. The
Yucatan is also contributing some smoke, seen moving west-northwestward
and adding to the smoke layer over the Bay of Campeche and western
Gulf of Mexico. There could also be contributions from western Cuba,
from where light density smoke can be seen moving west-northwest.


DUST:
Eastern Caribbean/Tropical Atlantic…
A region of Saharan Dust was seen extending from Africa westward to
the eastern, perhaps even central, Caribbean. This layer continues to
move westward.

Hosley

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.