Monday, August 10, 2026

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z August 10, 2026

SMOKE:
Canada…
Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued to produce a localized
layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke this evening. Wildfires in
southern British Columbia produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke plumes
that joined with smoke from fires in the Pacific Northwest of the United
States. The smoke drifted east-southeastward, contributing to a widespread
layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke that extended eastward across
much of southern Canada. A separate layer of remnant heavy-density
smoke was also observed over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A layer of
light-density smoke covered most of southern and western Canada, extending
from the Northwest Territories and British Columbia to Newfoundland and
Labrador, as well as over northern Nunavut. Light-density smoke drifted
eastward over the Atlantic Ocean, as well as southward to join with
light-density smoke covering CONUS.

Pacific Northwest…
Wildfires in Washington and Oregon continued to produce moderate-to-heavy
density smoke plumes. Smoke from these fires drifted eastward and
contributed to a widespread layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke
across much of northern CONUS. The layer of heavy-density smoke from
these fires traveled as far eastward as Pennsylvania.

CONUS…
In addition to the numerous wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, fires
located in northern California, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Montana,
Kansas, and South Dakota all produced smoke plumes that contributed
to a widespread layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke that drifted
eastward across the central United States, traveling as far south as
Texas and Oklahoma before continuing into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast,
eventually drifting eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke
was observed covering nearly all of CONUS before drifting southwestward
into the Pacific Ocean, southward over Mexico, eastward into the Atlantic
Ocean, and northward to join with light-density smoke over Canada.

Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean…
Light-density smoke was observed covering much of Mexico, eventually
drifting southwestward into the Pacific Ocean, and southward over
Guatemala, Belize, and the Gulf of America.

BLOWING DUST:
Caribbean…
Light blowing dust was observed drifting westward from the Sahara Desert
towards the Caribbean, reaching as far west as the Haiti and Cuba.

Marrs


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.