DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 20, 2026
SMOKE: Southeast CONUS/Midwestern CONUS… Agricultural fires persisted across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States this evening, generating numerous smoke plumes throughout the region. Significant fire activity in west-central Arkansas produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes that merged into a larger plume, extending east-northeast across the state. A high concentration of smoke plumes in southern Georgia and northern Florida also merged into a light-to-moderate area of smoke drifting south into the Gulf. The smoke plumes, ranging in various densities, primarily traveled towards the east-northeast and mixed with remnant smoke from yesterday’s fires to create a large area of light smoke that extended eastward towards the Atlantic and southwards into the Gulf. Montana… A fire in southeastern Montana was observed generating a light-to-heavy density smoke plume extend towards the east. Heavy-density smoke plume appeared to be concentrated near the fire source, transitioning to light-to-moderate density smoke as the plume extended east across the state border into South Dakota Wyoming…. Despite moderate cloud cover in the region, a fire located in east-central Wyoming was seen producing a light-to-heavy density smoke plume extending towards the east. Colorado… A fire located in Fremont County, Colorado generated a localized light-density smoke plume. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Central America... Smoke from fire activity, remnant smoke from previous days, and aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities in central and southern Mexico spread as a layer of light density smoke that extended from the southwestern Gulf of America westward over the Pacific. 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