DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z February 24, 2026
SMOKE: Southern United States… Widespread fire activity this evening produced a significant number of smoke plumes throughout southern CONUS. Plumes of light-density smoke were observed across the Gulf Coast, the Southern Plains, the Lower Mississippi Valley, and the Southeast. Plumes of moderate-to-heavy smoke were especially concentrated in south-central Arkansas, as well as coastal Mississippi and Alabama. Smoke traveled primarily in a southern direction, with coastal plumes extending into the Gulf of America. Florida… Agricultural fires south of Lake Okeechobee produced multiple light-density smoke plumes, some of which extended southeast into the Atlantic Ocean. A particularly strong fire in central Collier County produced heavy-to-moderate density smoke that reached neighboring Monroe County and western Miami-Dade County. Cuba… Agricultural fires produced light-density smoke that was concentrated primarily in central Cuba, and drifted south into the Caribbean Sea. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... Smoke from widespread fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days, as well as aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities in central and southern Mexico, concentrated into a layer of light-density smoke that extended across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the northeastern coast of Mexico, dissipating before it reached U.S borders. Moderate-density smoke was also observed on the western and southern coasts, extending west into the Pacific Ocean before dispersing into light-density smoke. Gaskill 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