DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z July 26, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires concentrated mostly in the Northwest Territories and southern British Columbia continued to burn this morning, producing medium-to-heavy density smoke plumes. Smoke from these wildfires merged into a larger area of medium-density smoke that extended across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, continuing eastward into western Ontario and eventually merging with heavy smoke from fires in the U.S Pacific Northwest. A lingering layer of medium-density smoke was located over eastern Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, continuing eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke was observed over much of Canada, which merged with the widespread layer of smoke over the United States. CONUS... Numerous wildfires in Oregon and Washington were observed producing medium-to-heavy-density smoke plumes this morning. Smoke in Washington traveled northwards into Canada, pooling and lingering in nearby valleys. Heavy smoke in Oregon traveled east-northeast across Idaho and Montana, ultimately merging with Canadian smoke. This plume traveled eastward before shifting south back into CONUS over the Great Lakes Region. The Island Fire, located on the southern border of California and Arizona, ignited this morning, producing light smoke that extended to the northeast. A layer of light smoke stretched from the Pacific Northwest and traveled into the North and Central Plains, which continued moving east across the rest of CONUS and ultimately reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico/Gulf of America/Baja California Sur... A layer of light-density smoke from ongoing fire activity and remnant smoke from previous days was observed along Baja California Sur and Pacific coast of southern Mexico, extending across central Mexico, the western Gulf of America, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the Yucatan Peninsula. 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