DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 26, 2025
SMOKE: Northwest Territories/Central Canada... Wildfires continued to burn across northern and western Canada, with the smoke-producing activity observed across the Northwest Territories, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan. The thickest smoke production was observed from a large wildfire just west of Great Slave Lake moving east-northeast across the Northwest Territories. Other moderate to thick smoke production was seen from north-central Alberta and far northeastern Alberta, with smoke moving east then east-southeast as the smoke enters Saskatchewan. The full extent of some of the smoke plumes and remnant smoke is obscured by a cyclone over Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, and Nunavut. Pacific NW/Big Sky Country... Wildfires also continued to burn across the Pacific Northwest throughout the day today. From northern Oregon and central Washington to western Montana, Multiple wildfires were observed producing moderate to thick smoke that was observed mainly moving eastward to the Dakotas. The thickest smoke was observed emanating from the long-lasting wildfires in central Washington State. Pacific Coast… The Moon Complex fire in southwestern Oregon was producing thick smoke this afternoon. The thick smoke was moving west to west-southwest until reaching the Pacific Coast, where the smoke began to move south to south-southeast. The smoke plume extends as far south as off shore of northern Baja California. Central CONUS… Agricultural burning from southern Illinois to Louisiana and from Texas to Minnesota was observed producing at least isolated light to moderate smoke plumes this afternoon. Smoke from fires along the Mississippi Valley into Louisiana was moving south, while smoke across the Great Plains was observed moving north. BLOWING DUST: Southern Saskatchewan/extreme northeastern Montana/northwestern North Dakota… High winds were observed lofting dust from multiple dry lake beds across southern Saskatchewan. The dust was moving east-southeast from the parent sources, with some dust reaching as far southeast as central North Dakota. Hosley 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