DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2350Z May 12, 2025
SMOKE: Central and Midwestern United States/Southern Canada/Atlantic Ocean... Wildfires in northeastern British Columbia, central Saskatchewan, and central Manitoba along with seasonal burning in the United States produced a large area light density smoke that extended through the Central Plains and progressed eastward along the border between southern Canad and northern United States and settling in the Atlantic Ocean just off the New England region. Within in the region, two large wildfires, one in northern Minnesota and another in southeastern Manitoba, was observed producing large amounts of thick density smoke that progressed northeastward into cloud cover. Several large wildfires in central Saskatchewan and Northeastern British Columbia were precluded by cloud cover. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America... 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 south of Baja and off Mexico’s southern coastline, and western Gulf of America. Within southwestern Mexico, thick density smoke from fire activity was observed extending in all directions and contributing to a larger patch of moderate smoke. DUST: Nevada... Moderate to thick dust was observed blowing across central Nevada. The dust seemed to be originating from the Fallon National Wildlife Refuge and the Black Rock Desert Area, with the dust being heavily carried by strong winds. 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: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