DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z July 25, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires concentrated mostly in the Northwest Territories, southern British Columbia and Manitoba continued to burn, producing vigorous medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. A layer of remnant heavy-density-smoke was observed over parts of the Northwest Territories, while larger regional layers of heavy-density smoke covered much of British Columbia and Alberta, sourced from both Canadian fires and the US Pacific Northwest. Moderate density smoke from these fires, along with remnant smoke from previous days, covered much of Canada, extending westward from the Pacific Coast, eastward across Alberta and Saskatchewan, and southeastward along the US-Canadian border as far east as Lake Michigan. A separate layer of remnant medium-density smoke was observed across Quebec, continuing off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Light-density smoke was observed over most of Canada, which merged with the widespread layer of light-density smoke over the United States and Mexico. CONUS... Numerous wildfires in Oregon and Washington were observed producing localized heavy-density smoke plumes and an extensive layer of moderate-density smoke that traveled northeast across the northern Rockies and Great Plains. Smoke from these fires merged with Canadian smoke, ultimately producing a layer of light-density smoke that covered nearly all of CONUS, with the exception of the southwest and California. This smoke extended eastward over the Atlantic Ocean and southward into Mexico. Mexico/Gulf of America/Caribbean Sea... A layer of light-density smoke from ongoing fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days was observed along the Pacific coast of southern Mexico, extending across central Mexico, the Gulf of America, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Light-density smoke was also observed over Cuba and parts of the Caribbean, which merged with the light smoke from Mexico and CONUS. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean... Light blowing dust was observed drifting from the Sahara Desert toward the Caribbean, reaching Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. 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