DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1500Z August 12, 2026
SMOKE: Canada... Wildfires in the Northwest Territories continued this morning, but no individual smoke plumes could be detected via satellite imagery due to significant cloud cover. Wildfires in southern British Columbia produced moderate-to-heavy density smoke that joined with smoke from fires in the Pacific Northwest of the CONUS. This combined plume stretched eastward as a narrow band of heavy smoke extended near the US-Canadian border, reaching as far east as the Great Lakes Region. Moderate-density smoke from these fires continued moving southeastward into CONUS before drifting 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, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico contributed to a widespread layer of moderate-density smoke that covered most of CONUS (with the exception the southwest) and drifted eastward, ultimately reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Light-density smoke was observed covering nearly all of CONUS before drifting southward over the Gulf Coast of Mexico, eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, and northward to join with light-density smoke over Canada. A few fires located in central Louisiana also contributed light-density smoke that merged with the regional plume. Mexico/Gulf of America/Pacific Ocean... Light-density smoke was observed over eastern Mexico, the Bay of Campeche, and the central Gulf of America, some of which drifted 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 Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before extending offshore of southern Haiti and continuing towards Central America. Gaskill 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