Monday, May 20, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1730Z May 20, 2024

SMOKE:
Canada and the North Atlantic Ocean….
Numerous wildfires located throughout portions of Canada from the western
part of the Northwest Territories and northeast British Columbia to
the central regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to
burn despite being concealed by persistent cloud cover throughout the
day. Due to the large amount of ongoing wildfires and recently developed
ones throughout these areas, a large area of smoke ranging from light
to localized moderate density in areas close in proximity to the larger
wildfires – such as those in northeast British Columbia, covered a
majority of Canada, extending from the the Yukon, across the majority
of Canada and regions near the North Pole, as well as crossing into the
North Atlantic Ocean, extending to just off the western coast of Europe.

Central United States...
An area of light density smoke was seen throughout the Upper Midwest
region of the United States where it combined with the Canadian smoke
and further extended southwest into portions of the South Central United
States. In the south-central region of the United States the large area
of combined smoke began to mix with the second large area of Mexican
and Central American smoke.

New Mexico...
A light density smoke plume was observed emanating from a suspected
wildfire located in the north-central region of New Mexico, dispersing
eastward in direction.

AEROSOL/SMOKE:
Southwest Atlantic Ocean/Southeastern United States/Gulf of
Mexico/Caribbean Islands/Central and Southern Mexico/Central
America/Eastern Pacific Ocean...
A large area of predominantly light density smoke attributed to widespread
seasonal fire activity throughout central and southern Mexico and Central
America was observed today from portions of the southwest Atlantic Ocean
and western Caribbean Islands extending west and southwest through
portions of the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal States of the United
States, the Gulf of Mexico, central and southern Mexico, northwestern
Central America and the eastern Pacific Ocean.  The highest density
smoke within this area was located over the far western Caribbean Sea,
northwestern Central America, southern Mexico and much of the western
Gulf of Mexico.  Aerosols from volcanic emissions, industrial sources
in Mexico and gas flaring activity in the southwest Gulf of Mexico were
also likely associated with the southern portions of this 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