DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 2330Z August 11, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued to produce light-to-moderate density smoke this evening. Wildfires in southern British Columbia produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke that joined with smoke from fires in the Pacific Northwest of the CONUS. The smoke continued moving southward into CONUS before moving eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. A layer of light-density smoke covered most of southern and western Canada, extending from the Northwest Territories and British Columbia. Light-density smoke drifted eastward over the Atlantic Ocean, as well as southward to join with light-density smoke covering CONUS. CONUS... Wildfires in Washington and Oregon continued to produce moderate-to-heavy density smoke. Smoke from these fires drifted eastward and contributed to a widespread layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke across much of northern 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 were all active today and contributed to a widespread layer of moderate-to-heavy density smoke that drifted eastward across the central and eastern CONUS, ultimately reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke was observed covering nearly all of CONUS before drifting southward over Mexico, eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, and northward to join with light-density smoke over Canada. Cuba... Seasonal fire activity was observed across most of Cuba, producing light-density smoke drifting westward and southwestward. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... Light-density smoke was observed covering much of Mexico, eventually drifting southwestward off the coast and into the Pacific Ocean. BLOWING DUST: Caribbean... Light blowing dust was observed drifting westward from the Sahara Desert toward the Caribbean, reaching as far west as the Haiti. 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