DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 21, 2026
SMOKE: Southeast CONUS/Midwestern CONUS… Widespread agricultural fires were persisted across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States this evening, producing scattered, individual smoke plumes ranging in various densities. The smoke plumes primarily traveled towards the east and northeast and eventually mixed with a large area of light-density remnant smoke from yesterday’s fires that was observed across the region, spanning from the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley towards the southeast into the Gulf of America, continuing east across eastern CONUS and eventually drifting off the coast into the Atlantic Ocean. Nebraska… Multiple fires located in the Nebraska counties of Lincoln and Dawson were observed generating smoke plumes that quickly merged into a large light-to-moderate density smoke plume drifting eastward across the state. Colorado… A fire in Fremont County, Colorado was observed producing a light-to-moderate smoke plume drifting towards the east, affecting multiple counties in east-central portion of the state. Cuba… Fires in western Cuba produced multiple light-density smoke plumes drifting southwestward into the Caribbean Sea. 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 Mexican Coastal Plain, into the southern Gulf of America, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and further west along the southern coast of Mexico before continuing 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