DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 8, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the central Northwest Territories, southwestern British Columbia, northeastern Saskatchewan, and northwestern Manitoba continued to burn and produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke this evening. A regional layer of heavy-density smoke spanned across much of the Northwest Territories, continuing slowly eastward into Nunavut. A more extensive layer of moderate-density smoke moved westward from the Northwest Territories towards Yukon. Smoke from the fires in southwestern British Columbia was observed drifting northeastward over Alberta before merging with a layer of moderate-density smoke over Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where widespread fires contributed additional heavy-density individual smoke plumes. Despite significant cloud coverage, Fires in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador were also observed producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes, which drifted northeastward and then southeastward, ultimately reaching the Atlantic Ocean and continuing for hundreds of miles. Southwestern U.S... Multiple wildfires, including the Ferris, Doe Canyon, Gold Mountain, and Aspen Acres Fires in Colorado, as well as the some fires in eastern Utah, continued to burn this evening, producing an regional area of moderate density smoke spanning much of New Mexico, Colorado, northern Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. A more extensive layer of light-density smoke also drifted northeastward towards the Midwestern United States and southward into Mexico. The smoke soon merged with the broader layer of smoke extending southward from eastern Canada, dispersing across much of eastern CONUS before continuing into the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico/Central America/Baja California/Pacific Ocean… A layer of light-density smoke from today’s fire activity, as well as remnant smoke from previous days was observed across Baja California, the Pacific coast of Mexico, and parts of Central America. The smoke eventually drifted southwestward into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST… Caribbean Sea… Light Saharan dust was observed blowing across the Atlantic Ocean this evening, eventually reaching parts of the Caribbean Sea, including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and east-central Cuba. 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 map: https://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