DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z October 21, 2026
SMOKE: Canada… Fires in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba were observed producing light-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Broad areas of light-density smoke from widespread activity were observed across the Northwest Territories and from Saskatchewan to Ontario. Pacific Northwest U.S.… Scattered fires across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana were observed producing light-to-heavy density smoke plumes generally drifting northwest to north-northeastward. Southeast U.S. and Great Plains… Numerous fires across the southeastern U.S. were observed producing light-to-moderate density smoke plumes drifting south to southwestward. Scattered fires in the Great Plains were observed producing light-density smoke plumes generally drifting northeastward. A broad area of light-density smoke from widespread activity was observed across the region and into the northern Gulf of America. Mexico… A layer of moderate-density smoke was observed drifting along the western coast of Mexico. A broad layer of light-density smoke was observed along the western coast of Mexico and drifting northwestward into Baja California and southwestward into the Pacific Ocean. Monaghan 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