DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z July 31, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in southern British Columbia continued to produce medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes this evening, contributing to a regional area of moderate density smoke that drifted eastward over Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Fires from the Northwest Territories also contributed to this moderate density plume, which eventually merged with smoke from CONUS and continued southeastward. A regional layer of remnant moderate-density smoke spanned over parts of eastern Ontario, west-central Quebec, and the Great Lakes region. A widespread layer of light-density smoke covered much of central and northern Canada. The smoke extended southward to merge with light-density smoke over CONUS, and eventually drifted offshore into the Atlantic Ocean. CONUS… Numerous wildfires in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and Montana were observed producing individual medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Smoke from these fires contributed to a large area of medium-density smoke that extended northeastward into Canada before drifting back southward across the Great Plains. A layer of remnant moderate-density smoke was observed in southeastern CONUS, traveling east into the Atlantic Ocean. A widespread layer of light-density smoke was observed covering most of CONUS, merging with additional smoke from Canada, the Gulf of America, Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Mexico/Gulf of America… A large plume of light-density smoke was observed spreading southward from CONUS across Baja California, the Gulf of America, and much of Mexico. Smoke sourced from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec extended northwards into the Gulf and southwards into the Pacific. Caribbean… The large regional plume from CONUS extended southward into the Caribbean this evening, spanning over much of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Individual light-density smoke plumes were also observed in central Cuba. Gaskill 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