BATON ROUGE — Residents in East Baton Rouge and parts of Ascension reported ash and soot from burned sugar cane in their yards recently. Officials said it came from fields west of the Mississippi River, where farmers burn cane as part of the harvest.

Fifth-generation sugar cane farmer Troy Canella said he did not burn his own fields over the weekend, but believes unusually warm December weather may have allowed smoke and ash from other farms to travel farther than normal.

"I'm guessing here, but I think it had something to do with unseasonably hot weather in December," he said.

WBRZ Meteorologist Malcolm Byron said weather conditions over the weekend likely contributed to smoke lingering closer to the ground.

"If you have a little more humidity in the air, which we did have a healthy amount of this weekend, it can latch onto the smoke particulates and weigh them down," Byron said.

Canella said many farmers rely on the National Weather Service's fire weather tools and avoid burning during unusual conditions to limit smoke drifting into nearby communities.

"If it says it's a favorable day for burning, then I look at wind direction and where the houses are," he said.

He added that modern harvesting equipment allows farmers to cut cane first and burn residual plant material only when conditions are safest.

"There is an alternative, and we're doing it right now, we burn when the winds are blowing away from the house and roadways," he said.

As harvest season is winding down, Canella asks residents for patience.

"I'm going to ask the public to just bear with us a little bit longer, get through this harvest. So, you know, and I promise you, this farm and other farms are doing all we can to minimize any smoke, any ash, anything you."

Fire departments suggest limiting outdoor activity, keeping windows and doors closed, and bringing pets inside.

To clean the ash, experts recommend vacuuming or sweeping the soot, but avoid using a leaf blower, which can blow the ash back into the air.