DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 20, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in the Northwest Territories, central Saskatchewan, Alberta, southern British Columbia, and Manitoba continued to burn this morning, producing vigorous medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Regional layers of heavy-density smoke spanned the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut. Despite heavy cloud cover over the region, evidence of continued fire activity in Ontario was observed due to smoke from this region contributing to a layer of light-to-moderate density smoke that extended westward into the Pacific Ocean, covered most of Canada, and drifted northeastward off the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. Smoke from these fires also embedded in the jet stream and drifted southeastward over CONUS and into the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke was observed drifting far offshore into the Atlantic Ocean, ultimately reaching southern Greenland to the north, the Azores to the east, and the eastern Caribbean to the south. CONUS/Atlantic Ocean… A layer of moderate-density smoke from wildfires in Canada stretched across the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region and continued across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern CONUS, eventually drifting into the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke encompassed areas as far south as central California and the Southeast before drifting eastward over the Atlantic. Colorado… The Aspen Acres Fire was observed producing a localized moderate-to-heavy density smoke plume drifting southwest. Mexico/Gulf of America… A regional layer of light-density smoke from fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days was observed spanning much of southern Mexico, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The smoke also extended southwestward into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean… Light dust from the Sahara Desert was observed blowing westward across the Lower Antilles into the Caribbean Sea. Marrs 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