DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z January 4, 2026
SMOKE: Southern Florida… Agricultural fires located south of Lake Okeechobee produced an area of light-density smoke that drifted east across Florida making its way over the Atlantic. South and Southeast CONUS… There was heavy fire activity throughout the southern CONUS, stretching from eastern Texas and Oklahoma towards South Carolina this evening. Most of the visible light-density smoke plumes were seen in the Middle Mississippi Valley region. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America… An area of light-density smoke, consisting of residual emissions from scattered fire activity and aerosols from urban and industrial sources, was observed stretching from the coast of Louisiana to the Gulf Coast of Mexico, then extending southward before it crossed over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and drifted northwest along the coastline as well as south into the Pacific Ocean. Rodriguez 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