Thursday, March 6, 2025

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 07, 2025

SMOKE:
Gulf Coast States/Bahamas…
The most significant smoke production today was observed from agricultural
burning activity from Texas into Florida and North Carolina. Smoke was
moving east-southeast from burns in Mississippi and eastward, whereas
smoke from fires in Louisiana, Texas, and eastern Oklahoma was observed
moving northward to north-northeastward.
It should be noted that, due to the detection of a moderate density of
burning activity co-located with increasing cloud cover throughout the
day, more smoke may be present across the rest of the central Plains
and Ozarks regions than is analyzed.

Central Mexico…
A handful of fires across central Mexico (Durango and Zacatecas) were
observed producing moderate density smoke moving off toward the northeast,
approaching the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon at sundown.

BLOWING DUST:
Northern Chihuahua/New Mexico/Texas…
Moderate amounts of blowing dust were observed being transported
northeastward from sources in northern Chihuahua, New Mexico, and far
southeastern Colorado. The dust was seen as far northeastward as Nebraska
and Kansas.

Desert Southwest…
Light density blowing dust was observed being kicked up from sources
across the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. The kicked up dust was observed
moving northeastward.

AEROSOL/SMOKE/DUST:
Central and Southern Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Bay of
Campeche...
An area of predominantly light density smoke, dust, and other aerosols
attributed to agricultural burning, remnant dust from many sources from
California to Mexico over the past few days, and  industrial sources
throughout Central and Southern Mexico was observed today covering an
area extending from the tropical Pacific Ocean to the western North
Atlantic. The area of aerosol was seen being drawn northward on the
eastern side of a cyclone off the US East Coast, shunted southward across
the southern Gulf of America and northwestern Caribbean by the attendant
cold front, and drawn northward again across the western Gulf of America
by another system over the central CONUS. A gap wind event is also drawing
this aerosol layer southward out across the Gulf of Tehuantepec and out
across the Pacific. Some contributions from the southern coast of Mexico
and Central America were being drawn southwestward out across the open
Pacific Ocean.

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.