DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 12, 2026
SMOKE: Southeastern CONUS… Due to significant cloud cover across much of southeastern CONUS this evening, very few smoke plumes were observed via satellite imagery. Florida… Fires near and south of Lake Okeechobee were observed producing light-density smoke plumes moving northeast over the lake before being obscured by clouds. Central Plains/Southern Plains/Gulf of America… Widespread fires across central and eastern Oklahoma produced individual light-density smoke plumes that traveled north. In Texas, fires in coastal regions southwest of Houston produced medium-density smoke plumes that drifted further south into the Gulf of America. Nebraska/South Dakota… Two separate fires produced moderate-to-heavy smoke in Nebraska that traveled east across the state, one of which was located in Morrill and Garden Counties. The other fire was located in Thomas and Blaine counties. A fire located in Custer County, South Dakota produced moderate-to-heavy smoke that traveled east-southeast, eventually crossing state lines into Nebraska. Cuba… Agricultural fires in central Cuba were observed producing individual light-density smoke plumes, some of which merged into a larger area of smoke that drifted further offshore. 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, along the Mexican Gulf Coast, and into the southern Gulf of America. Smoke was also observed off the western and southern coasts of Mexico and Central America before drifting southwest into the Pacific Ocean. 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