Sunday, September 28, 2025

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 28, 2025

SMOKE:
Northwest Territories/Central Canada...
Wildfires continued to burn across northern and central Canada, with
smoke-producing activity observed across the Northwest Territories and
western Saskatchewan. Heavy cloud cover obscured the smoke produced by
the wildfire in central Alberta this evening. Moderate smoke drifted
east across the southern Northwest Territories, northeastern Alberta,
and northwestern Saskatchewan, thinning to light smoke as it drifted
southeast across the Northern Plains, the Upper Mississippi Valley,
and the Midwestern United States.

Pacific NW...
Wildfires also continued to burn across the Pacific Northwest,
from western Oregon and central Washington to western Idaho and
Montana. Despite moderate cloud coverage obscuring the full extent of the
smoke plume, the heaviest smoke was seen being produced by the wildfires
in central Washington and southwestern Oregon. Light-to-moderate smoke
drifted northeastward across Washington, northern Idaho, northern Montana,
and eventually merging with the light smoke from the Canadian fires.

Pacific Coast/Southwestern Oregon…
The Moon Complex fire in southwestern Oregon was producing
moderate-to-heavy smoke this evening. Light-to-moderate smoke moved
northeast, eventually mixing with the smoke from the Canadian fires,
and south over the Pacific Coast and northern California. The smoke
plume’s full extent was not visible due to cloud coverage over central
California and along the southern Pacific Coast.

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.