Monday, August 3, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z August 3, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada…
Wildfires in southern British Columbia and Northwest Territories persisted
and produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes, contributing to a
widespread area of moderate-to-heavy density smoke that moved southeast
into Alberta and Saskatchewan and the western United States. Smoke
circulated back to the northeast and gathered west of Hudson Bay in
Manitoba and Ontario. Smoke coverage was also fed from fires burning
throughout the western United States and Rocky Mountains. Isolated fires
in Ontario and Quebec were observed producing light-to-heavy density
smoke plumes drifting northeastward.

CONUS…
Areas of widespread heavy-density smoke were observed across parts
of Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. A large area of
moderate-density smoke was observed from the Pacific Northwest and
extending southeastward into Texas and northeastward into the Great
lakes region. A large area of light-density smoke was observed across a
major of the U.S, extending west in the Pacific Ocean, north into Canada,
and south into the Gulf of America.

Pacific Northwest…
Wildfires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and British
Columbia were observed producing heavy-density smoke plumes drifting
westward to southward.

Southeastern U.S. and southern plains…
Scattered fires were observed producing light-density smoke plumes.

Caribbean…
Isolated fires in Hispaniola and Cuba were observed producing
light-to-moderate smoke drifting generally westward.

Mexico…
Light smoke covered the region from Baja and the Pacific coast to the
western Gulf, and spread south into Guatemala.

Monaghan


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.