Monday, July 13, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 13, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada…
Wildfires in the central Northwest Territories, central and southern
Ontario, and central Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to burn,
producing vigorous heavy-density smoke plumes drifting eastward. Fires
were detected in western Quebec; though were obscured by clouds, evidence
of moderate-density smoke drifting eastward was observed. An area of
remnant moderate-density smoke was observed stretching across northern
Canada from eastern Alaska to the southwestern tip of Greenland, and
drifting southwestward into the northern Pacific Ocean. A broad area of
light-density smoke was observed across Canada, extending into both the
north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

CONUS…
A thin band of moderate-density smoke was observed stretching from
Missouri to Quebec and off the Pacific coast extending into northwestern
Washington and Oregon. A broad area of light-density smoke was observed
across the eastern two thirds of the U.S. and along the Pacific northwest
coast.

Southwestern U.S.…
The Aspen Acres, Willow, and Gold Mountain Fires in Colorado and
the Stookey fire in Utah continued to burn this morning, producing
light-to-moderate density smoke plumes and extensive layers of
light-density smoke drifting westward to northward.

Oregon…
Isolated wildfires in southwestern and northeastern Oregon were observed
producing light-to-heavy density smoke drifting north to northeastward.

Mexico/Gulf of America…
A layer of light-density smoke from remnant smoke from previous days
was observed along the Mexican Gulf coast and extending north into the
western Gulf of America.

Cuba…
Scattered fires across Cuba were observed producing light-to-moderate
density smoke drifting westward.

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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.