DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z August 21, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued to burn this morning. Despite heavy cloud cover, these fires were observed producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke that moved southeastward over Alberta and Saskatchewan and eastward into Manitoba. Wildfires in southern British Columbia produced localized heavy-density smoke, which dispersed into moderate-density smoke as it spread eastward across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and southeastward into CONUS. A broad layer of light-density smoke covered much of western Canada before merging with smoke from CONUS. CONUS/Pacific Ocean/Atlantic Ocean… Wildfires across the Pacific Northwest and Idaho continued to produce localized heavy-density smoke. A regional layer of medium-density smoke extended southeastward over the Central Plains and Midwestern U.S. before drifting northeastward into southern Ontario. Moderate-density smoke from these fires also drifted northward into southern Canada. A large layer of light-density smoke covered much of central and eastern CONUS, including the Pacific Northwest, the Great Plains, the Mid-Atlantic, and the southern U.S. This smoke drifted eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, westward into the Pacific Ocean, northward to join with light-density smoke over Canada, and southward to join with smoke over Mexico. Southeastern CONUS… Isolated fires in Arkansas and Mississippi were observed producing localized moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes drifting eastward and northeastward. 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 the British Virgin Islands. This smoke drifted westward over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and into the Pacific Ocean. Individual moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes and a separate layer of light-density smoke were observed over fires in Chiapas. Caribbean… Isolated fires in Cuba were observed producing localized heavy-to-moderate density smoke plumes drifting westward. Isolated fires in the Dominican Republic were observed producing heavy-to-moderate density smoke plumes that drifted northwestward into Haiti. Marrs 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