DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z April 16, 2026
SMOKE: Southeast CONUS/Central Plains… Widespread agricultural fires produced light and medium smoke plumes across southeastern CONUS and the Central Plains this morning. The smoke plumes were observed moving northeast before being obscured by cloud cover. Cuba… Two large wildfires continued to burn in the province of Pinar del Rio this morning, with heavy-to-moderate density smoke traveling westward offshore into the Yucatan channel. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Gulf of America/Gulf Coast/Pacific Ocean… Smoke from fire activity, remnant smoke from previous days, and aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities contributed to a layer of light-density smoke that extended across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and into the west-central Gulf of America. The smoke was also observed moving westward into the Pacific Ocean off the southern and central coasts of Mexico. 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