DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z 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 light to 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 Eastern Oregon were seen emitting light smoke this morning and early afternoon. The smoke was generally moving southeastward. A couple of fires also seen in northern California emitting light density smoke plumes towards the SW into the Pacific Ocean. 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 north-east. 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 morning and early 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. 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. Rodriguez 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