DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z August 18, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued to burn this evening, producing localized heavy-density smoke, as well as a more extensive region of moderate-density smoke that moved southeastward across much of southern Canada and southward to join with moderate-density smoke over CONUS. Wildfires in southern British Columbia produced localized heavy-density smoke, which dispersed into moderate-density smoke as it spread eastward across southern Canada and southward into CONUS. Remnant smoke from yesterday’s fires lingered as a region of moderate-density smoke extending eastward from Alberta to northern Nunavut before drifting southeastward over central Ontario. Remnant moderate-density smoke was observed across northern Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Labrador Sea extending past Greenland into the open north Atlantic Ocean. A broad layer of light-density smoke covered nearly all of Canada before merging with smoke from CONUS. CONUS/Pacific Ocean/Atlantic Ocean… Wildfires across the Pacific Northwest continued to produce localized heavy-density smoke. A regional layer of medium-density smoke extended eastward over the Northern and Central Plains and northward into British Columbia to join with medium-density smoke in southern Canada. A large layer of light-density smoke covered much of CONUS, including the Pacific Northwest, the Great Plains, and much of eastern CONUS. This smoke drifted northward to join with light-density smoke over Canada, as well as southwestward to join with smoke over Mexico. Southwestern U.S.… Isolated fires in New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California were observed producing localized light-to-heavy smoke. Remnant moderate-to-heavy smoke from the Frijoles Fire was observed across New Mexico and extending northeastern in the central plains. Southeastern U.S.… Isolated fires in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia were observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke plumes generally drifting southward to eastward. Remnant moderate-to-heavy density smoke was observed across the south from Texas to Georgia and extending into the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico/Gulf of America… A layer of light-density smoke from fires and industrial activity was observed across parts of central Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, and the western and central Gulf, ultimately reaching western Cuba. This smoke drifted also drifted westward over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and into the Pacific Ocean. Caribbean… Isolated fires in Cuba and the Dominican Republic were observed producing light-density smoke plumes. BLOWING DUST: Lesser Antilles… A layer of light Saharan dust was observed traveling across the Atlantic Ocean this evening, reaching parts of the Lesser Antilles. 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