Wednesday, September 9, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z September 8, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada...
Wildfires in the southern Northwest Territories continued to burn this
morning, producing a localized area of moderate-to-heavy density smoke
drifting eastward. Remnant moderate density smoke was observed extending
from Newfoundland and Labrador into the Labrador Sea, and from Nunavut
across the Arctic Ocean and Greenland into the North Atlantic Ocean. A
layer of light-density smoke from fires in the Northwest Territories
drifted northeastward into Nunavut and southeastward toward the 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 layer of light-density smoke covered portions 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...
The Moonshine Fire in southeastern Wyoming was observed producing
light-to-moderate density smoke drifting northwestward.

Mexico...
A layer of light-density smoke from fires, industrial activity, and smoke
from CONUS was observed over the western Gulf of America, Bay of Campeche,
Gulf of California, and Pacific Ocean.

BLOWING DUST:
Caribbean...
Dust from the Sahara Desert was observed lofting over the Atlantic Ocean
this morning, drifting westward as far as the Lesser Antilles.

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.