Wednesday, September 17, 2025

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 17, 2025

SMOKE:
Western and Southern Canada, Eastern United States, Atlantic Ocean….
Wildfires continue to burn over western Canada, although to much a lesser
extent than what was seen a few weeks back, and over the western United
States, producing a large area of smoke that extended from the Northwest
Territories through Alberta, Saskatchewan, the northern portions of
the United States and into the North Atlantic Ocean. A portion of that
smoke from western Canada was observed being drawn south into most of
the eastern United States and into the northern portion of the Gulf
of America.

California…
The Garnet Fire in central California continued to burn and emit
light-to-moderate smoke that remained localized in the eastern portion
of the San Joaquin Valley.

Washington State…
An area of moderate-to-heavy density smoke extended north, from the
large wildfire over the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, into central
and northern British Columbia and western Alberta. Three wildfires in
the central Washington were also observed producing light-to-heavy smoke
that persisted northeast towards the northern portion of the state.

GL

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.