DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1600Z February 8, 2026
SMOKE: Gulf of America/Central Gulf Coast/Cuba/Western Caribbean/Florida Keys/NE Yucatan… A relatively large area of remnant smoke was observed this morning extending from the western Caribbean northwestward into southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. The source of this layer is the burning across the southeastern CONUS and Cuba from yesterday and, perhaps, from Friday as well. There are a couple areas of slightly more enhanced smoke density west of South Florida, over the Louisiana and far eastern Texas Gulf Coast, and over southern Mississippi that can be re-traced to some of the higher density burning areas over the past few days. Smoke here is moving around an area of high pressure over the southeastern CONUS South Florida… Widespread smoke-producing agricultural burning was observed in the area around and south of Lake Okeechobee this morning. The smoke was mainly light and moving off toward the west or west-northwest. Southeastern CONUS… Active emissions continued to be analyzed after sunrise across portions of the southeastern CONUS from far eastern Texas into southern Georgia. The most far-reaching smoke plume was observed extending northwestward into northeastern Mississippi from three persistent fires in west-central Alabama. As mentioned in the remnant smoke over the Gulf of America, much of the smoke is moving around an area of high pressure located over the Southeastern CONUS. Central/Southern Plains… A solid area of high clouds was observed moving over Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas this morning. With fires analyzed across these locations overnight, it is also possible some light smoke may be emanating from any fire in those locations as well. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Guatemala/Pacific Ocean… Fire activity across eastern Honduras, southern Mexico, and the Pacific Coastal Plain of Guatemala, as well as gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche, were all helping to create a layer of relatively light smoke that stretched from eastern Honduras northwestward across the Yucatan, Bay of Campeche, and Mexican Gulf Coast. This smoke was also being drawn south across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and over the Tropical Eastern Pacific, where some contribution from fires there added to the smoke layer. There was also a small layer just west off the coasts of Michoacan, Guerrero, and western Oaxaca that is likely remnant from previous days. 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