DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1550 July 18, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the central Northwest Territories, south-central Ontario, and central Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to burn this morning, producing vigorous heavy-density smoke plumes that embedded in the jet stream and drifted southeastward over the North Atlantic Ocean. A large area of light-to-moderate density smoke covered much of Canada, extending westward from the Northwest Territories, eastward into Nunavut and Quebec, and drifting southeastward to merge with light-density smoke over the United States. CONUS... A layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke from wildfires in Canada stretched across the Great Lakes region, the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Atlantic Ocean before drifting eastward and northeastward, eventually reaching the eastern coast of Newfoundland. A large area of light-density smoke covered much of the United States, drifting eastward over the Atlantic Ocean and westward, where it merged with smoke from wildfires in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. Pacific Northwest... The East Evans Creek Fire in southwestern Oregon and numerous fires in central Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern British Columbia were observed producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke drifting northward and northeastward, mixing with the broader layer of smoke from northern Canada. Mexico... A regional layer of light-density smoke from fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days was observed in the Pacific coast of Baja California, extending southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into the Pacific Ocean. YL 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