DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 8, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Wildfires in the southern Northwest Territories continued to burn this evening, producing a localized area of medium-to-heavy density smoke drifting eastward. A layer of remnant heavy density smoke was observed extending across the Labrador Sea, Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Northeastern United States. This layer dispersed into medium-density smoke that drifted southeastward over the Atlantic Ocean, northward over Nunavut, eastward across the Davis Strait into Greenland, and westward into the Hudson Bay. A layer of light-density smoke from fires in the Northwest Territories drifted northeastward into Nunavut and southwestward toward the northwestern United States. Light-density smoke was also observed over much of eastern Canada, drifting eastward as far as Greenland and southward to join with light-density smoke over CONUS. CONUS… A localized layer of remnant medium-density smoke was observed drifting over Montana and southern Idaho before extending westward over the Pacific Ocean. Individual plumes ranging in various densities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi were observed drifting generally northward. Multiple fires in eastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri produced localized areas of moderate-to-heavy density smoke. A regional layer of medium-density smoke was observed extending over much of eastern Kansas, western Missouri, northeastern Oklahoma, and northwestern Arkansas. Light-density smoke covered much of the northwestern United States before drifting southwestward over the Pacific Ocean. Light-density smoke also covered much of central and eastern CONUS, joining with light-density smoke from Canada before drifting eastward over the Atlantic Ocean and southward toward Mexico. Wyoming/South Dakota… The Moonshine Fire in southeastern Wyoming and the Four Corner and Van Meter Fires in central South Dakota were observed generating moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes extending eastward. Central California… The Plaskett Fire continued to burn this evening, producing light-to-moderate density smoke drifting northward. A prescribed burn at Angel Island State Park was also observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke drifting westward into the Pacific Ocean. North Carolina/Virginia… Fires in North Carolina were observed producing individual light-density smoke plumes drifting southwestward, while a fire in southern Virginia producing a light-to-moderate density smoke plume moving northeastward. Mexico… A localized layer of medium-density smoke was observed over Tabasco and Chiapas. A layer of light-density smoke from fires, industrial activity, and smoke from CONUS was observed over much of Mexico, extending southwestward over the Pacific Ocean and eastward into the Gulf of America. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean… Dust from the Sahara Desert was observed lofting over the Atlantic Ocean this evening, drifting westward as far as the Lesser Antilles. GL 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