DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z June 21, 2026
SMOKE: Northwest Territories/Yukon/Alaska… Several fires in the Northwest Territories continued to burn this morning, producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke that spread through most of the northwestern portion of the Northwest Territories, concentrated around parts of the Mackenzie River. A lingering layer of light-density smoke spread in all directions across the region, traveling into Yukon and Nunavut as well as eastern British Columbia and northern Alberta. A separate light-density plume was also observed over central Alaska. Southwestern U.S/Central and Eastern U.S/Atlantic Ocean Scattered fires in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona continued producing light-to-heavy density smoke plumes this morning. The Iron fire, located south of Salt Lake City, contributed significantly to a layer of localized heavy-density smoke while medium-density smoke continued southward across Utah into northern Arizona and Colorado. Lingering smoke from these fires, as well as scattered fires across the central U.S, contributed to a large layer of light smoke that stretched from Utah to northern Texas, continuing east across the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Valleys before extending into the Atlantic Ocean. Northwestern and Southeastern Mexico/Central America/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America… An area of light-density remnant smoke from previous days, as well as smoke from industrial sources and fire activity spread over northwestern Mexico and Baja California. Another area of light-density smoke was observed over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec dispersing into the Bay of Campeche, the central Gulf, the southern Yucatan Peninsula, parts of Central America, and southwards into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Baja California/Baja California Sur/Sonora… A significant amount of blowing dust was observed this morning, traveling from Baja California and Baja California Sur, across the Gulf of California, and into parts of Sonora and Sinaloa. Dust was also observed blowing off the western coast of Baja California Sur into the Pacific Ocean. Gaskill 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