DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 21, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires continued to burn across the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan this evening. Wildfire activity was observed producing a large layer of heavy-density smoke that drifted southeast across the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Medium-density smoke from these fires, as well as remnant smoke from previous days, extended eastward to cover Nunavut, the Hudson Bay, Ontario, and northern Quebec. Smoke also drifted southward to join with medium-density smoke over the United States. Light-density smoke was observed drifting westward over the Pacific Ocean, ultimately joining with a widespread layer of light-density smoke over the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. CONUS… Numerous wildfires in the Oregon and Washington were observed producing individual heavy-density smoke plumes. Fires in southeastern Nebraska also produced localized heavy-to-moderate smoke plumes that drifted southwest. Smoke from these fires joined with smoke moving southward from Canada, ultimately producing a layer of medium-density smoke that covered much of the northern half of the United States, drifting as far east as central Pennsylvania. Light-density smoke covered nearly all of CONUS. This smoke extended eastward into the Atlantic Ocean and southeastward over the Caribbean, as well as southward into Mexico. Mexico… Light-density smoke drifted southward from CONUS over Baja California, the Bay of California, and into the Pacific Ocean. Separate regional layers of light-density smoke from fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days were observed over the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and spanning the southern Gulf of America, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Caribbean Sea. Pacific Ocean… A separate layer of medium-density smoke was observed covering Newfoundland and extending northeastward into the North Atlantic southeast of Greenland, as well as southward as far as Puerto Rico, ultimately covering much of the North Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke extended beyond the borders of this medium-density layer, reaching as far east as eastern Greenland and the Azores, and into the Caribbean Sea to the south. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean… Dust was observed lofting from the Sahara Desert, drifting westward over the eastern Caribbean. 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