DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1430Z August 16, 2025
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires continued to burn across the southeastern Northwest Territories, with moderate-to-heavy density smoke accumulating for approximately 300 miles to the west and north. A larger light density smoke plume originating from those same wildfires extended eastward over Nunavut and the Hudson Bay. Northern, Central and Mid-Atlantic US... Light smoke from wildfires in Central Idaho, Northwestern Wyoming and Western Montana could be seen dispersing eastward into the Dakotas and then merging with additional light smoke from previous day prescribed fires along the Mississippi Valley, where it extended further east over the Mid-Atlantic states and Atlantic Ocean. Mexico... Two smaller light-density smoke plumes were also seen over and around the Gulf of California and the coastal areas along the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas in eastern Mexico. DUST: Caribbean... Light-to-moderate dust from the Saharan Desert was observed alongside hurricane Erin over the Atlantic Ocean approximately 500 miles north of the Caribbean Islands. 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