DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z July 24, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the Northwest Territories, central Saskatchewan, Alberta, southern British Columbia, and Manitoba continued to burn, producing vigorous medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Regional layers of heavy-density smoke covered much of the Northwest Territories and the southern portions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Light-to-moderate density smoke from these fires, along with remnant smoke from previous days, covered much of Canada, extending westward from the Pacific Coast, eastward across Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, eventually drifting into the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. This smoke continued southeastward to merge with the widespread layer of light-density smoke over the United States and Mexico. CONUS... Numerous wildfires in Oregon and Washington were observed producing localized heavy-density smoke plumes and an extensive layer of moderate-density smoke drifting northeast. Smoke from these fires merged with smoke from Canada, ultimately producing a layer of medium-density smoke that covered much of the northern half of the United States. Light-density smoke covered nearly all of CONUS. This smoke extended eastward over the Atlantic Ocean and southward into Mexico. Mexico... A layer of light-density smoke from ongoing fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days was observed along the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and extending across central Mexico, the Gulf of America, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Yucatan Peninsula. Remnant light-density smoke from yesterday’s fire activity in the Antilles was also observed drifting westward across the Caribbean Sea towards the Yucatan Peninsula. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean... Dust was observed lofting from the Sahara Desert, drifting westward toward the Caribbean. 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