DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z January 20, 2026
SMOKE: Southeast CONUS, South Great Plains, and Southern Midwest… High fire activity took place in the middle to southeastern portions of CONUS this afternoon and evening. Various smoke plume densities, from light to heavy, were emitting in all directions but the heaviest smoke was seen along the Louisiana and Texan coastline. Northern Havasu National Wildfire Refuge… There was a large fire located in the northern portion of the Havasu National Wildfire Refuge, located along the western Arizona and Southeastern California border. The fire was emitting mostly medium to heavy smoke that headed south towards the Mexican border. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Pacific Ocean... An area of light-density smoke, consisting of smoke produced by active fires scattered throughout southern Mexico and residual emissions from fire activity, mixed with aerosols from nearby urban and industrial sources, was observed dispersing northwestward along the Mexican coastline and drifting southwestward 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