Saturday, January 31, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z February 1, 2026

SMOKE:
Midwestern CONUS/Southeastern CONUS…
Widespread agricultural burning was observed across the Midwestern and
Southeastern United States this evening. However, very few smoke plumes
were observed due to cloud, ice, and snow conditions in these regions.

Louisiana…
Agricultural fires were observed in southern Louisiana this evening,
producing light-to-moderate smoke plumes drifting southward into the
Gulf of America.

East Texas…
Multiple smoke plumes in east Texas were observed drifting towards the
south this evening. In particular, the fires in the Texas counties of
Houston and Sabine were observed generating plumes ranging from light
to heavy density smoke.

Cuba…
Agricultural fires in central Cuba were observed producing light-density
smoke plumes moving towards the east.

Sonora…
Fires in the Mexican state of Sonora were observed producing an area of
light-density smoke drifting southwest into the Gulf of California.

AEROSOL/SMOKE:
Mexico/Guatemala…
Smoke from scattered fire activity, as well as and urban aerosol emissions
and smoke remnants from previous days, concentrated into a layer of
light-density smoke that spread along the southwestern coast of Mexico
and into Guatemala. The smoke drifted southwest over the Pacific and
northeast offshore into the Gulf of Honduras.

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.