DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z September 21, 2026
SMOKE: Washington/British Columbia… Fires in north-central Washington State and southern British Columbia were observed producing light-to-heavy density smoke drifting northeastward within the province and continuing across central Canada towards the Hudson Bay and western Ontario, before being obscured by clouds. The Sisi Fire was also observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke drifting eastward and southward. California… Despite significant cloud cover in central California this morning, a plume of medium-density smoke from the Dome Fire was observed traveling northwards, while a regional remnant layer of light-density smoke persisted, extending westward and southward across the state. Caribbean… A fire in southwestern Dominican Republic was observed producing a light-density smoke plume drifting west-northwestward across Haiti into the Caribbean Sea. Multiple individual smoke plumes from industrial sources in west-central Cuba extended northwards across the Straits of Florida towards the Keys. Southeastern CONUS… Multiple isolated fires were active across the southeastern United States this morning. A remnant plume of medium-density smoke from yesterday’s fires extended from the Tennessee Valley across Mississippi and Alabama before continuing over the Louisiana Gulf Coast. A layer of remnant light-to-medium-density smoke from yesterday’s fire east of Houston persisted this morning and traveled westward across Texas. A regional layer of light-density smoke spanned the Southeastern United States, merging with smoke from the Gulf and Caribbean before reaching the Mid-Atlantic states and continuing offshore into the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean… A layer of light-density smoke from fires and industrial activity was observed in the Gulf coastal region of Mexico, also spanning the entire Gulf of America. A layer of medium-to-heavy density smoke from industrial activity was observed in the Bay of Campeche, while medium-density smoke continued southward over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Light smoke extended across central Mexico into the Pacific Ocean, and across the Yucatan Peninsula before merging with smoke over the Caribbean, the Gulf, and CONUS. A separate light-density plume was also observed over Baja California Sur and the Pacific Ocean. Gaskill 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