Thursday, March 28, 2024

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0125Z March 29, 2024

SMOKE:
Midwestern and Southeastern United States...
A large area of light density smoke attributed to moderate to heavy
seasonal agricultural burning throughout the Midwest was observed in
the central Midwest and parts of the southern U.S Gulf states. The
light density smoke extended  south from central Iowa and along the
Mississippi river, where the smoke settle off the coast of eastern Texas
and into the Gulf of Mexico. Some of this smoke is likely remnant smoke
from the numerous fires observed yesterday in eastern Arkansas, Kansas
and Oklahoma. Within the region, moderate to thick density smoke plumes
were observed in Arkansas and eastern Texas, with the plumes in Arkansas
moving northeastward while the smoke in Texas was moving in more eastward
direction. In addition, the heavy seasonal burning in southeastern Kansas
and northeastern Oklahoma formed a moderate patch of density smoke also
moving northeast before cloud cover cover the region. Outside of the
large area of smoke, numerous smoke plumes also from seasonal agricultural
burning were seen scattered across southeastern U.S and moving southward,
with the moderate to thick density smoke plumes observed in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama. Some of the smoke plumes in the southeastern
U.S states of southern Alabama and western Florida were seen extending
south well into the Gulf of Mexico.

AEROSOL/SMOKE:
Mexico/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche/Western Caribbean Sea/Central
America...
A large area of light to moderate density smoke originating from
widespread fire activity in Central America, mixed with aerosol from a
composite of volcanic and industrial emissions in Mexico was observed
over central/southern Mexico, southern half of the Gulf of Mexico, and
the western portion of the Caribbean Sea. This combination of smoke and
aerosol was seen extending from the Caribbean Sea northwest just off
the coast of southern Florida It was also seen extending southwest from
the Caribbean Sea into northern Central America, where the smoke/aerosol
was noted to be moderate to even heavy in density in some regions.

Nguyen

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