DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0100Z December 20, 2024
SMOKE: Arizona... A plume of light density smoke from a wildfire in central Arizona was seen blowing west-southwest across the state in the morning and early afternoon with northwest movement of smoke also noted in the mid-to-late afternoon. Southeastern CONUS… Scattered to widespread light smoke production from agricultural burning activity was noted from southeastern Texas into Georgia and southern Florida. Smoke was observed mainly moving southeastward across much of the region. The greatest density of agricultural burning was along coastal Louisiana with the region just south of Lake Okeechobee also with fairly high density. Northern Plains… A couple fires in Nebraska were observed emitting mainly light smoke that was observed moving rapidly east-southeastward and crossing the state border into southwestern Iowa thanks to a low-pressure system crossing the Upper Midwest. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central and Southern Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of Mexico/Bay of Campeche... An area of predominantly light density smoke and aerosols attributed to scattered agricultural burning, volcanic emissions and industrial sources throughout Central and Southern Mexico was observed this morning along the Mexico’s Central and Southern Pacific coastal, extending west into Pacific Ocean, and parts of the western Gulf of Mexico where additional gas flaring emissions could be seen originating from oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche. BLOWING DUST/SMOKE: Colorado River Delta… A handful of fires were observed scattered throughout the agricultural area along the Colorado River Delta in northwestern Mexico. The light smoke from these fires was seen moving southward. Also observed in the area was the lofting of dust from the desert area between the agricultural area and the north end of the Gulf of California. The smoke and dust were then drawn south and south-southeastward out over the northern Gulf of California. BLOWING DUST: Northern Plains… Separate from the observed fire and smoke production in Nebraska, a lofting of dust was also noted with the high winds. The blowing dust was seen moving east-southeast while the large scale motion of the dust “bands” was southward. This was clearly distinct from the observed light smoke plumes and was observed over a slightly larger area. 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