DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 22, 2026
SMOKE: Southeastern CONUS/Midwestern CONUS… Widespread agricultural fires persisted across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States this evening, generating scattered, individual smoke plumes ranging in various densities. The smoke plumes primarily traveled towards the northeast and mixed with smoke remnants from yesterday’s fire activity, producing a large area of light-density smoke that extended from the Midwest into the Southeast, spanning from the Lower Mississippi Valley towards the East Coast, and moving east toward the Atlantic Ocean. After reaching the Atlantic, the smoke continued to drift farther southeast toward the Greater Antilles Islands. Florida… Fires south of Lake Okeechobee were active this evening and produced an area of light-density smoke moving towards the north, eventually mixing with the larger area of light-density smoke extending southeast into the Atlantic. Wyoming… A fire was observed in Big Horn County, Wyoming, producing a localized heavy-density smoke plume before transitioning to light-to-moderate density smoke as it extended northward into southern Montana and eastward along the Wyoming-Montana state border. Colorado… A fire located on the border of Fremont and Pueblo counties was observed generating a light-to-moderate smoke plume drifting towards the northwest. Cuba… Fires in western Cuba were observed producing multiple light-density smoke plumes drifting northwest into the eastern Gulf and southwest 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 southern Gulf of America, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and along the southern coasts of Mexico and Central America 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