DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z May 19, 2025
SMOKE: Central United States... A large area of light density smoke, produced from a combination of wildfires in the United States and Mexico, was observed progressing north towards the Central Plains and making its way eastward. The smoke may have extended further east but heavy cloud cover prevented further analysis. Monterey County, California… There was a large cluster of fires at the southern end of Monterey County producing light to moderate smoke that was moving S-SW making its way over the Pacific Ocean. Saskatchewan... There were a few clusters of fire but due to heavy cloud activity only three fires were visibly producing light density smoke plumes. A patch of light density smoke was observed in northern-central Saskatchewan. The smoke is from the large wildfires in central Saskatchewan. Heavy cloud cover precluded further detailed observations over the region. Chihuahua, Mexico… There large clusters of fire were seen along the western border of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. They were producing moderate to heavy smoke plumes that made its way into western Texas. There were various other fires in this state contributing to the smoke seen in southern CONUS. Blowing Dust: Blowing dust was seen in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Chihuahua,MX. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Texas... An expansive area of light density smoke and aerosols - attributed to widespread seasonal fire activity, volcanic emissions, and industrial sources throughout western, central, and southern Mexico - was observed today extending across western, southern, and eastern Mexico, the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s western and southern coastlines, the Yucatán Peninsula, north Central America, southern Texas, and the Gulf of America. Rodriguez 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:http://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