Fires Burning in Latin AmericaCreating Haze in Southeast Texas
5 May 2006
People in and around Southeast Texas have been noticing a haze in the area. NOAA Fire and Smoke Meteorologist John Simko tells Hometown News the cause of this haze is happening over a thousand miles away.
Simko says this haze is smoke which is originating from a tremendous number of fires burning across Mexico and Central America and have generated a lot of smoke blowing out over the Gulf of Mexico.
A map updated daily by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency seen below shows smoke all over the gulf coast represented in grey.
Hurricanes which brought down a lot of trees in the Yucatan Peninsula left dead vegetation in its wake. Simko says this has provided plenty of fuel for the seasonal wildfires.
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