DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z September 4, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued to burn this evening, producing light-to-moderate density smoke plumes that drifted northward before traveling southeastward with the weather system. A layer of remnant light density smoke was also observed over Hudson Bay. Northern Plains... Wildfires across Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas were observed producing locally moderate-to-heavy density smoke drifting north-northwestward. Central California... The Plaskett Fire in Monterey County, central California, was observed producing moderate-to-heavy density smoke drifting southward over the Pacific Ocean. Lower Mississippi Valley... Wildfires in the Lower Mississippi Valley were responsible for a large area of light-to-moderate density smoke over the region. The smoke plume moved counterclockwise with the weather system. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... A layer of remnant light density smoke from fires, industrial activity, and smoke from CONUS was observed over the Gulf of America and along the eastern coast of Mexico. A layer of light density smoke was also observed over the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, dispersing northward into the Gulf and southward into the Pacific Ocean. YL 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