DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 17, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… An area of remnant light density smoke was observed over south-central Canada and drifted southeast across Manitoba and Ontario. Smoke spread south into Minnesota and moved towards the Great Lakes. Washington… Fires in north-central Washington continued to produce light- to medium-density plumes which spread into the river valleys and dispersed. Heaviest smoke was observed in the northernmost Cascades and spread northeast into British Columbia. California… The Dome and Floriston Fires in central California generated a large light plume, with heavy smoke concentrated at the source. Heavy smoke moved towards the Nevada border, and light smoke spread north across western Nevada and eastern Oregon. Southeastern CONUS… Isolated fires across the southeastern United States produced scattered individual plumes of light smoke that drifted southwest. Smoke appeared to circulate clockwise as it drifted towards the Gulf coast and Texas, and expanded across the region from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. Caribbean… A fire in southwestern Dominican Republic was observed producing light-to-heavy density smoke that drifted westward across Jamaica and into the western Caribbean Sea. Mexico/Gulf of America… A layer of light density smoke from fires and industrial activity was observed in the western coastal region of Mexico and drifted offshore into the Pacific. Moderate density smoke concentrated around the Gulf of California and south of Baja. Mills 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