DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330 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 Pacific Ocean, 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 and the Mid-Atlantic States, eventually drifting eastward into the Atlantic Ocean before extending southward and northeastward. 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 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 eastward 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 southern Mexico, spanning over the western Gulf of America. The smoke also extended southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec before drifting into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean… Light dust from the Sahara Desert was observed blowing westward across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Lower Antilles. GL 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