DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 19, 2026
SMOKE: New Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas... The Seven Cabins Fire in Lincoln County, New Mexico continued to burn and produced a large, moderate density smoke plume which moved northeast over northern Texas, Oklahoma’s panhandle, and western Kansas. Moderate smoke dissipated into light smoke and drifted east into a weather system. California… The fire on Santa Rosa Island offshore southern California continued to burn and produce heavy-to-moderate density smoke which moved southwest into the Pacific. Widespread light smoke extended from the southern coast along the Mexico border and moved east, where it merged with expanding smoke from fire activity in New Mexico and Mexico. Southeastern U.S... Agricultural burns across much of the southeastern United States produced a widespread area of light smoke which drifted northeast over the Mid-Atlantic and followed the coast. Fires were concentrated in southern Georgia and northern Florida. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Central America... Fire activity, aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities, as well as remnant smoke from previous days, contributed to a widespread mixed layer of light-density smoke and aerosols across Mexico and Central America. Moderate density smoke concentrated in southern Mexico along the Pacific Coast, and along the Gulf where it spread north into the southwestern U.S. north across the western Gulf and continuing eastward over the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America before drifting into the Gulf of Honduras. Light-density smoke was also seen extending from the Mexican Gulf coast across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec before drifting into the Pacific off the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Remnant light density smoke was observed drifting north and northeastward over the Gulf of America and extending across the southern Great Plains and over the eastern U.S. Moderate-density smoke was observed across central Honduras and along the Mexican Gulf coast extending into southern Texas and the western Gulf. Mills 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