DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1400Z August 12, 2025
SMOKE: Central-Eastern Canada/Central-Eastern US/Northern Atlantic... Wildfires continued to burn across Southeastern Northwest Territories and Central Saskatchewan, releasing moderate density smoke towards the east and southeast impacting downwind areas in the Midwestern and Northeastern US and the Southeastern Canada, extending eastward over the north Atlantic. Smoke from wildfires in Colorado and prescribed burning along the Central US also created a light density plume that extends from Western Colorado and Central New Mexico to the Central Great Plains, passing through the Ozark Plateau and merging with the Canadian plume west of the Ohio Valley. California... The Gifford Fire in Southern California remained very active this morning with heavy smoke dispersing towards the south. British Columbia/Washington State... Two large wildfires located in Vancouver Island and Olympic National Forest (Bear Gulch Fire) were seen emitting heavy smoke across those areas, with plumes dispersing towards the south and east. DUST: Caribbean... Light-to-moderate dust from the Saharan Desert was observed moving westward across the Lesser Antilles. WS 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