DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z March 29, 2026
SMOKE: Midwest and Southeastern U.S... Widespread agricultural fires continued across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States this morning. However, due to significant cloud cover in these regions, only a few light-density smoke plumes were detectable in the satellite imagery. Louisiana/Arkansas/Eastern Texas… Fires located in Louisiana, Arkansas, and eastern Texas were observed producing individual light-to-moderate density smoke plumes this evening, with the majority drifting towards the north. Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri Multiple light-density smoke plumes generated from a cluster of fires located in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma were observed coalescing into a larger light-density smoke plume extending north-northeast across eastern Kansas. The smoke plume appears to make its way to northwestern Missouri within the coming hours. An additional fire located in the northwestern corner of Ozark County, Missouri was observed producing a localized heavy-density smoke plume before transitioning to light-to-moderate density smoke as it extended further north across the state. Iowa… Multiple fires in northern Iowa were observed producing individual light-to-moderate density smoke plumes drifting toward the northeast. Eastern CONUS… Despite significant cloud cover across the region, a few fires located east of the Mississippi River were observed producing multiple, individual light-to-moderate density smoke plumes drifting in various directions. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean... 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 into layer of light density smoke that extended from the western Gulf, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and along the western and southern coast of Mexico before dispersing westward into 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