DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 02000Z January 26, 2026
SMOKE: Florida… Agricultural fires persisted south of Lake Okeechobee today and produced multiple individual plumes of light smoke. The plumes drifted north. Central Plains… From Oklahoma to western Illinois and southern Iowa, a very high density of agricultural burning was observed this afternoon in the wake of the winter storm that passed over much of the CONUS east of the Rockies. Although no smoke was directly or clearly observed, plumes from smokestacks across the region indicate winds out of the north this afternoon that would have moved any smoke present from this agricultural burning southward. The same winter storm made analysis of smoke and fire nearly impossible anywhere east of 90W longitude and across Texas and Louisiana. It is certainly possible that, in other areas in the wake of the storm where the storm has let up that further burning has occurred. Canadian Rockies… Another place where scattered to widespread burning was observed today was across western Alberta both along the eastern edge of the Rockies and across the western portions of the prairies. Again, plumes from smokestacks in the area indicate any smoke present (none analyzed) would have been moving east-southeastward. Cuba… Scattered agricultural burning was observed producing light smoke that was seen moving northward into the eastern Gulf of America, approaching the west coast of Florida. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of America/Guatemala/Pacific Ocean... Scattered to widespread fire activity across the coastal plain of Mexico, coupled with gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche and remnant smoke from previous days, was creating a mainly light smoke/aerosol layer the covered the western Gulf of America, the Bay of Campeche, and the coastal plain of Mexico. The smoke was being forced southward by the same system moving eastward across the eastern CONUS. The associated front was acting to concentrate any smoke/aerosol present. 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