DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z October 18, 2025
SMOKE: Mississippi Valley/Southeastern United States/Great Lakes Region... Heavy cloud cover was observed over the Lower Mississippi Valley this evening, obscuring areas of smoke concentrated near the agricultural fires in the region. However, merging with remnant light-density smoke from the previous days’ agricultural burning, an area of light smoke extended northeastward over Kentucky, Tennessee, and western North Carolina before it was obscured by heavy cloud cover. The smoke appeared to have extended northward over the Great Lakes region. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Central Mexico/Southern Gulf of America... An area of light-to-moderate density smoke, consisting primarily of aerosols from gas flaring and other urban/industrial activity in central Mexico, mixed with additional emissions from scattered fire activity in the region, was observed spreading northward along Mexico’s Gulf coast and the Bay of Campeche. 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