DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0000Z May 21, 2026
SMOKE: California... The Santa Rosa Island fire continues to produce smoke this afternoon, albeit less than in previous days. The smoke was only of moderate density at best and was moving eastward south of Santa Cruz Island. Light smoke emissions were also observed from other fire activity across southern California, with remnant smoke from all fire activity across southern California and Santa Rosa Island observed as far south as between Isla Guadalupe and Baja California and out over the Pacific as well. Central and Northern Plains/Southern Manitoba... Light smoke was observed from the Missouri Valley north-northwest into southern Manitoba. The smoke is likely from some scattered fire activity in western Minnesota and the Eastern Dakotas, with some remnant contribution from a wildfire that had been observed in central New Mexico. Cloud cover present over Nebraska and Iowa obscures the southern extent of the smoke layer, which could extend a little further south than analyzed. Southeastern CONUS and Mid-Atlantic... Scattered fire activity across the southeastern United States over the past few days has contributed to a layer of light smoke from Mississippi northeast across the Mid-Atlantic, southern New England, and the southern half of the Maritime Provinces. From there the smoke was being drawn southeastward by a sprawling area of high pressure centered just east of Bermuda and a trough over the Azores. The high pressure area was also incorporating the smoke into its circulation. The full eastward of extent over the North Atlantic is uncertain with cloud cover obscuring the leading edge just enough. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Central America... Fire activity, aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities, and remnant smoke from previous days contributed to a widespread mixed layer of light-to-moderate density smoke and aerosols across Mexico and northern Central America. Moderate density smoke gathered along the Gulf Coast south of Texas, and the Pacific Coast, south of southern Mexico and Guatemala. The northern extent of the layer is uncertain due to widespread cloud cover. Although uncertainty exists due to the cloud cover, this layer may have merged with the smoke layer mentioned above across the southeastern CONUS. 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