DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z June 18, 2026
SMOKE: Southwestern U.S… The Grapevine Fire and Kane Springs Fires in southern Nevada was observed producing localized moderate-to-heavy density smoke. An isolated fire in northern Arizona was observed producing light density smoke generally drifting eastward. A large area of light-density remnant smoke was also observed extending westward from Nevada and California into the Pacific Ocean. A fire in southern California also produced localized moderate-density smoke, before transitioning to light density smoke as it dispersed towards the west and east. Washington… Wildfires in Washington were observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke plumes drifting generally to the south. Southeastern CONUS… An area of light-density smoke, consisting of fire activity across the southern East Coast, such as the Quarry 2 (13) and Well (13) Fires in southern Florida, and remnant smoke from previous days, was observed extending northeastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Western and southern Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America… An area of light-density smoke consisting of remnant smoke from previous days and smoke from fire activity was observed across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, extending northward into the western Gulf of America, ultimately reaching southeastern CONUS. The smoke also extended northwest along the Mexican Pacific coast and east into Central America before drifting southwest into the Pacific Ocean. An area of moderate density smoke was also observed in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, drifting northward into the Bay of Campeche. 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