Thursday, August 7, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z August 7, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada…
Wildfires in the Northwest Territories were observed producing a
localized layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke this evening. Multiple
wildfires in southern British Columbia produced moderate-to-heavy
density smoke plumes that joined with smoke from the fires in the
Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Smoke from these fires
drifted east-southeastward, contributing to a widespread layer of
moderate-density smoke that extended eastward through southern Alberta,
southern Saskatchewan, and the Great Plains before drifting northeastward
across the Midwestern U.S. into eastern Canada and the Ungava Bay. Some
moderate-density smoke extended eastward along the Quebec coast before
drifting southward into the Gulf o St. Lawrence. A layer of light-density
smoke covered most of Canada, extending northwestward over the Northwest
Territories and much of Yukon and Nunavut, and northward over Quebec
and Newfoundland and Labrador, and southeastward over the Atlantic Ocean.

Pacific Northwest...
Wildfires in Washington and Oregon continued to produce moderate-to-heavy
density smoke plumes. Smoke from these fires drifted generally eastward
and contributed to a widespread layer of medium-density smoke across
much of CONUS.

CONUS…
In addition to the numerous wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, the
fires in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana all produced moderate-to-heavy
density smoke plumes drifting generally eastward. The Widemouth 2 Fire
in Utah produced a layer of moderate-density smoke extending westward
into Nevada. Smoke from these fires contributed to a widespread layer
of moderate-density smoke that drifted eastward over the Midwest and
northeastward into Canada. Light-density smoke was observed covering
nearly all of CONUS before drifting southward over Mexico, eastward
into the Atlantic Ocean, as well as northward to join with light-density
smoke over Canada.

Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean...
An area of light-density smoke was observed along the Mexican Coastal
Plain extending westward into central Mexico, eventually drifting
southwestward into the Pacific Ocean.

GL


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

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.