DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z March 22, 2026
SMOKE: Southeast CONUS/Midwestern CONUS… Widespread agricultural fires continued across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States this morning. The fires produced a large area of light-density smoke that extended from the Midwest into the Southeast, spanning multiple states and moving east and northeast toward the Atlantic Ocean. After reaching the Atlantic, the smoke continued to drift farther northeast toward New England and southeast toward the Greater Antilles Islands. The smoke may also consist of smoke remnants from yesterday's fires in the region. Florida… Fires south of Lake Okeechobee were active this morning and produced light-density smoke plumes that initially dispersed locally before moving south and southeast across the state. 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 southern Gulf of America, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and further west along the southern coast of Mexico before continuing westward over the Pacific. Hernandez 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