DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z October 16, 2026
SMOKE: Pacific Northwest… Fires located across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho produced individual smoke plumes of various densities. The smoke plumes generally drifted northward to northeastward. The W Fork Evans Creek Fire in Jackson County, Oregon, continued to burn this evening and was observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke that drifted northward within the state. California… Fires in the northern Central Valley of California were observed producing a localized layer of light-to-heavy density smoke. A fire in Humboldt County produced localized heavy-density smoke and a layer of light-to-moderate density smoke extending into the counties of Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Trinity. The Norte and Henderson Fires in southern California generated a layer of light-to-heavy density smoke extending offshore towards the Channel Islands. A layer of remnant light-density smoke was observed along the coast of California, extending westward into the Pacific Ocean and southward towards Mexico. Southeastern CONUS... Fires were active across the Southeastern CONUS this evening. Despite significant cover, individual light-to-moderate density smoke plumes were observed across the region. A broad layer of light-density smoke extended westward from the Southeastern U.S. towards Texas, eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, and southward over the western Gulf of America. The smoke may also consist of remnant smoke from yesterday’s fires. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean… Despite significant cloud cover, remnant light-density smoke was observed across the western Gulf of America, extending into the Bay of Campeche and the Mexican Gulf Coast. A separate layer of remnant light-density smoke was observed extending off the Pacific Coast of Mexico into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Baja California… Blowing dust was observed drifting westward from northwestern Baja California, extending offshore into the Pacific Ocean. Arizona… Moderate-to-heavy dust was observed lofting from the Willcox Playa in southeastern Arizona, with the plume drifting westward and merging with a broader layer of dust in the southwestern corner of the state. California… Blowing dust was observed drifting westward from Ventura County, California, extending offshore towards the Channel Islands. Sonoran Desert… A layer of blowing dust from the Sonoran Desert was observed over southwestern Arizona and northwestern Sonora, drifting southeastward into the Gulf of California. 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