DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 9, 2026
SMOKE: Midwestern CONUS… Fires persisted across the Midwestern United States this evening, producing many individual smoke plumes drifting towards the northeast. A high concentration of individual light-density smoke plumes were observed in Kansas and central Nebraska. Light-density smoke plumes in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana were observed drifting northeast across Lake Michigan towards Michigan. Southeastern CONUS… Widespread cloud cover were present across much of the Southeastern United States this evening. Despite this, many smoke plumes ranging in various densities were observed from agricultural fires in northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Smoke plumes in Georgia and South Carolina eventually merged into a broader area of light-density smoke drifting east into the Atlantic. In central North Carolina and northern South Carolina, several plumes produced by fires concentrated into an area of light-to-moderate density smoke drifting towards the east. Cuba… Agricultural fires in western Cuba were observed producing an area of light-density smoke drifting northwest into the eastern Gulf. Northern Texas… Despite cloud cover in the region, a fire located in Gray County, Texas was observed producing a light-to-heavy density smoke plume during breaks in the clouds. The smoke plume appeared to drift east towards Oklahoma before being obscured by the clouds. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of America/Central America/Pacific Ocean... Smoke from widespread fire activity, remnant smoke from previous days, and 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 along the Mexican Gulf Coast. Smoke was also observed off the southern coast of Mexico, mixing with areas of moderate-to-heavy smoke located in Guerrero, and Central America, before drifting southwest into the Pacific Ocean. 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