DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 26, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires concentrated mostly in the Northwest Territories and southern British Columbia continued to burn this evening, producing medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Smoke from these wildfires merged into a larger area of medium-to-heavy smoke that extended across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, continuing eastward into Ontario. The smoke then drifted south into the Midwest and Southeast CONUS before continuing east over the Atlantic ocean and north toward Newfoundland and Labrador. CONUS... Numerous wildfires in Oregon and Washington were observed producing medium-to-heavy-density smoke plumes this evening. Smoke in Washington traveled northward into Canada, pooling and lingering in nearby valleys. Heavy smoke in Oregon traveled east-northeast across Idaho and Montana, ultimately merging with Canadian smoke. This plume traveled eastward before shifting south back into CONUS over the Great Lakes Region. The Island Fire, located on the southern border of California and Arizona continued to produce medium-to-heavy smoke that extended to the northeast. A layer of light smoke stretched from the Pacific Northwest and traveled into the North and Central Plains, which continued moving east across the rest of CONUS and ultimately reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico... No significant areas of smoke were observed via satellite imagery this evening. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean... Light blowing dust was observed drifting from the Sahara Desert toward the Caribbean, reaching Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Hernandez 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