DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500 September 20, 2026
SMOKE: Washington… Fires in north-central Washington State continued to burn this morning, producing light-density smoke that drifted northeastward into Canada. Southeastern CONUS… Numerous isolated fires were observed across the southeastern and central United States, concentrated in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. These fires produced individual plumes of light-density smoke that generally drifted northward or northeastward. Smoke from these fires produced a regional layer of medium-density smoke that drifted eastward over the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions and into the Atlantic Ocean, as well as southeastward along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to Florida. A layer of light-density smoke extended from central Texas across much of the eastern United States, ultimately drifting eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico… A layer of light-to-moderate density smoke from fires and industrial activity was observed over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Bay of Campeche. Meyer 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