DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z May 13, 2026
SMOKE: Great Plains… Several fires were detected throughout the Great Plains with multiple plumes of light-density smoke. Fires in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada and Texas produced smoke plumes drifting generally northward, while fires in Minnesota, Iowa,and Nebraska produced smoke plumes drifting generally southward. Oregon… A fire in south-central Oregon produced an northeastward drifting light-density plume of smoke. SMOKE/AEROSOL: Mexico/Pacific Ocean/Gulf of America/Central America… Smoke from fire activity, aerosol emissions from gas flaring and other industrial activities, as well as remnant smoke from previous days contributed to a widespread layer of light-density smoke/aerosol that was observed extending north into the Gulf and continuing eastward over the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America before drifting into the Gulf of Honduras. Light-moderate-density smoke was also seen extending from the Mexican Gulf coast across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec before drifting off the coasts of Mexico and Central America into the Pacific. Areas of moderate smoke were observed across Jalisco and extending eastward south of Mexico City and along the Mexican gulf coast extending into northwestern Guatemala. GM 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