Friday, March 22, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1735Z March 22, 2024

SMOKE:
Central/Eastern United States…
An area of thin to moderate density smoke attributed to heavy seasonal
burning was observed in the Midwest from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska
continuing northeast into central Iowa, then continuing east along the
Great Lakes region. This thin to moderate density smoke was also seen
extending throughout the southeastern U.S. region, until it was seen
dispersing just off the Coastal Atlantic.

Mid-Atlantic United States…
An area of light to moderate density smoke from several fires over the
last few days in northern Virginia and West Virginia produced remnant
smoke that was seen disbursing to the east over the Mid-Atlantic region,
with the moderate density smoke concentrated mainly over northern Virginia
and Maryland, presumably due to a large wildfire in Shenandoah National
Park. Due to a large amount of cloud cover in this region analyzing
individual smoke plumes was difficult.


AEROSOL/SMOKE:
Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula/Caribbean Sea/Pacific Ocean south of
Mexico/Central America...
A large area of predominantly light density smoke originating from
widespread fire activity in Central America and northern South America,
mixed with aerosol from a composite of volcanic emissions in Mexico and
industrial sources was observed over a significant portion of the Gulf
of Mexico, extending southeast towards Cuba and the Caribbean sea. This
composite of smoke and aerosol was also seen covering areas of Central
America and the Pacific ocean off the south coast of Mexico and the west
coast of Central America.

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