DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z April 6, 2026
SMOKE: Central CONUS… Widespread burning was observed across much of the Central Plains this afternoon, with the focus in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. Dozens of light to moderate smoke plumes emanating from this activity were seen creating an area of smoke that blanketed an area covering eastern Kansas and northeastern Kansas. In surrounding areas (Nebraska, Iowa, central Kansas, and northwestern Oklahoma), the smoke plumes remained a little more scattered in nature. The smoke production was moving southeastward across Nebraska, Iowa, and northern Kansas to southward across southern Kansas and Oklahoma. AEROSOL/SMOKE: Mexico/Gulf of America/Central America/Pacific Ocean… A layer of light smoke persists across the western Gulf of America, Mexican coastal plain, Bay of Campeche, southern Mexico, Gulf of Tehuantepec, and the tropical Eastern Pacific due to fire activity, remnant smoke from previous days, and aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities across central and southern Mexico. This smoke/aerosol layer could be seen spreading southward in the Eastern Pacific on a Tehuantepecer wind event, while smoke offshore of Michoacan and Guerrero was seen extending and moving west-southwestward out over the Pacific for a couple hundred miles. BLOWING DUST: Nevada… Multiple areas of blowing dust were observed this afternoon. One area was a dry lake bed in southwestern Nevada where dust was moving northwestward and another couple in northwestern Nevada where the dust was moving northeastward. Coastal Sonora… Multiple areas of blowing dust were seen along the central and southern coasts of Sonora in Northwest Mexico. The dust was being transported eastward/inland. Hosley 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