DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 21, 2026
SMOKE: California... A fire located in east-central California produced a light density smoke plume that extended west, covering portions of the Central Valley. New Mexico… The Seven Cabins fire, located in Lincoln County, New Mexico, continued to burn this morning. A plume of light-to-moderate smoke was observed moving to the east-southeast. Southeastern CONUS and Mid-Atlantic... Scattered fire activity across the southeastern United States over the past few days has contributed to a layer of light smoke that extended from the eastern Gulf, traveling north across Florida to the coastal Mid-Atlantic states before continuing east into the Atlantic Ocean. A regional light-density smoke plume was also observed over southwestern Florida. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Central America... Fire activity, aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities, and remnant smoke from previous days contributed to a widespread layer of light density smoke and aerosols across Mexico and northern Central America. Smoke stretched across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into the central Gulf of America, however significant cloud cover over the Gulf Coast obscured the possible full extent of smoke. Light density smoke was observed over Baja California and across most of Mexico, Central America, and the Gulf of Honduras before continuing southwestward into the Pacific. 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:http://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