DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 12, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the central Northwest Territories continued to burn, producing heavy-density smoke plumes. A regional layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke covered much of the Northwest Territories, drifting eastward through Nunavut reaching eastward over Baffin Island. Several large fires in western Quebec and central Manitoba and Saskatchewan were also observed producing heavy-density smoke drifting eastward and northeastward. Across Ontario, extensive wildfires produced individual medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes drifting eastward across the Great Lakes region. Large areas of remnant moderate-density smoke were observed stretching south of Hudson Bay and off the coast of Newfoundland. A widespread area of light-density smoke extended from the Northwest Territories across central and eastern Canada, eventually merging with light-density smoke over the CONUS and the Atlantic Ocean. Southwestern U.S/Midwest and Eastern U.S... The Babylon and Gold Mountain Fires in Utah and Colorado continued to burn this morning, producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes drifting southward and southeastward. The smoke merged with a broader layer of smoke extending southward from Canada, which spread across the eastern CONUS before continuing eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. Oregon/California... Isolated wildfires in northeastern and southwestern Oregon were observed producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke drifting north to northeastward. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... A layer of light-density smoke from today’s fire activity, as well as remnant smoke from previous days, was observed across southern Mexico. The smoke extended across Central Mexico and the Gulf of America before drifting offshore into the Pacific Ocean. Cuba… Many scattered fires were observed across Cuba producing light-to-heavy density smoke drifting southeastward. GM 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