DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z August 15, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continue to produce thick smoke. The thickest smoke extends east to east-southeastward to over central Canada while a small portion also extends int eh opposite direction across the NW Territory. Some cross-polar transport is likely adding to some of the smoke over northern Canada. The moderate smoke then extends east-southeastward to the Maritime Provinces, where the smoke makes a hard turn northeastward to over the Davis Strait under the influence of a cyclone north of Labrador. CONUS/Atlantic Ocean... Wildfires across the Pacific Northwest continued to produce moderate to thick density smoke across the region this morning. Most of the area was stagnant, with smoke remaining in valleys across the PNW and southern BC. However some of the smoke emanating from fires in northern California and southwestern Oregon can be seen moving NNW to NNE. Remnant smoke from previous days can also be seen over the near-shore Pacific Ocean that is slowly moving ashore while also being drawn south over the OR and northern CA shore and north over Victoria Island. Remnant smoke also extends eastward across the northern CONUS and out over the North Atlantic. Some thicker areas of moderate smoke exist across the Midwest and southern Mid-Atlantic, offshore of the Carolinas, and a couple spots near the Azores. It is certainly possible that smoke from Canada (listed above) is merging off Newfoundland, but it is not clear due to clouds associated with a cyclone over Cape Race. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... Light-density smoke was observed over along the Mexican Gulf Coast, Central Mexico, and the Gulf of America, some of which drifted southwestward across southern Mexico into the Pacific Ocean. A region layer of moderate-density smoke was also observed in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec before extending southwestward into the Pacific Ocean. There may also be some Saharan Dust adding to the optical opacity over the Gulf of America. SAHARAN DUST: Saharan Dust is observed extending westward from the Sahara to the Gulf of America. The dust is of moderate density all the way to the Leeward Islands and the Sargasso Sea. Some of the dust may be mixing with smoke across the Gulf of America and portions of the central North Atlantic. Hosley 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