DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z February 20, 2026
SMOKE: Southern Florida… Agricultural fires located south of Lake Okeechobee were observed producing an area of light-density smoke drifting east into the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba/Gulf of America/Caribbean Sea… Fires persisted throughout Cuba, creating plumes of light-density smoke extending northwest into the Gulf and south into the Caribbean Sea. Chihuahua… Fires in Chihuahua were observed producing light-density smoke plumes drifting towards the east. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Guatemala/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... Smoke from scattered fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days, as well as industrial aerosol emissions in the Bay of Campeche, concentrated into a layer of light-density smoke that extended across central Mexico, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and northern Guatemala before drifting southwestward off the Mexican and Guatemalan coasts into the Pacific Ocean. Smoke was also observed spreading over the western Gulf as it extended northward along the Mexican Coastal Plain before drifting northeast into southeastern Texas and northern Louisiana. 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