DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z March 12, 2025
SMOKE: Eastern CONUS… Widespread agricultural burning activity from the Plains eastward to the southeastern CONUS and Mid-Atlantic was observed producing hundreds of light to moderate smoke plumes. Smoke was moving north-northeastward over the Texas and Louisiana, northeastward over Kansas to the Ohio Valley and northern Mid-Atlantic, eastward to east-southeastward over the Tennessee Valley, Southeastern CONUS, and Carolinas, and southeastward across Florida and the Bahamas. Locally, smoke from one fire near the VA/NC border was moving southward due to the presence of a cyclonic disturbance between the Carolinas and Bermuda. Sierra Nevada and Nevada… A fire in the Sierra Madre and another in west-central Nevada were observed producing light to perhaps some moderate smoke. The smoke from these fires was seen moving northeastward. Sacramento Valley… A couple fires in the Sacramento Valley were observed producing light smoke moving northward. From earlier... US Midwest/Ohio Valley... A large plume consisting of light density remnant smoke from previous day fire activity across the US Midwest and central Mississippi Valley could be observed stretching from eastern South Dakota, to Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Northeastern U.S., moving eastward towards the northwestern Atlantic. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central and Southern Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Bay of Campeche... An area of predominantly light density smoke and aerosols, attributed to scattered to widespread agricultural burning across the CONUS, Mexico, and the Greater Antilles, lofted dust from over the past week across northern Mexico, the southwestern CONUS, and the southern US Rockies, and industrial sources across Mexico and the Bay of Campeche are all combining to form an area of aerosol that extends from the east coast of Mexico to the central North Atlantic. The layer covers the Bay of Campeche, much of the Yucatan Peninsula, the northwestern Caribbean, central Cuba, Hispaniola, and the Atlatnic Ocean from Cuba and Hispaniola northeastward to around Bermuda. A strong cyclone and attendant cold front is helping to concentrate the layer across the northwestern Caribbean, Yucatan, and southwestern Gulf of America while drawing the layer northeastward then northward along the eastern periphery of the cyclone. BLOWING DUST: Northern Chihuahua into New Mexico and West Texas… High winds were lofting dust from sources across northern Chihuahua and southern New Mexico and transporting that dust east-northeastward across southern New Mexico and western Texas. 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