Tuesday, August 4, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 23300Z August 4, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada...
Wildfires in southern British Columbia persisted, but heavy cloud cover
over the area limited smoke detection from the satellite imagery this
evening.

CONUS...
A large area of moderate-to-heavy density smoke was observed from the
Pacific Northwest, extending southeastward into Texas and northeastward
into the Great lakes region. A large area of light-density smoke was
observed across a major portion 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, Nevada, and
British Columbia were observed producing heavy-density smoke plumes
drifting toward the southwest into the Pacific Ocean.

California...
The Gann Fire in Calaveras County, California was observed producing
moderate-to-heavy density smoke drifting northward this evening.

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

YL


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.