Tuesday, March 24, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 24, 2026

SMOKE:
Southeastern CONUS/Midwestern CONUS...
Widespread agricultural fires continued across the Midwestern and
Southeastern United States this evening. Despite a large amount of cloud
cover in the region, many light-density smoke plumes were observed within
the region, spanning from Kansas to Georgia. The numerous fires produced
a large area of light-density smoke that extended from the Midwest into
the Southeast, which continued to drift offshore into the Atlantic.

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.

Meyer


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.