First published 10/4/2026, 3:00:15 PM · Last updated 10/4/2026, 3:00:15 PM

Heavy satellite-observed smoke area centered at 41.581°N, 122.397°W

NOAA HMS classified the satellite-detected smoke as heavy density during a GOES-East observation window on October 3, 2026. The observation describes smoke extent, not ground-level air quality or a health alert.

Illustrative image: Taken on August 10th, 2013 by the Landsat-8 satellite, this image shows the active fire areas along with burn scars for the Elk and Beaver Creek Complexes. Landsat, a collaboration between the USGS and NASA, provides high resolution 30-meter per pixel imagery using specialized visible and thermal sensors to distinguish between different land surface types. The use of the thermal information in this image allows the hot spots of active fires to be clearly seen as specks (and in some cases, large — NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Categories: environment-and-climate

Generated scores

Scores are based on the cited reporting and use a 1–10 scale. Read the methodology.

Confidence: 6/10How certain the assessment is based on the clarity and evidence in the cited reporting.
Geographic reach: 1/10How widely the event reaches, from a local area (1) to worldwide impact (10).
Global importance: 3/10The event's broader significance, from limited importance (1) to major global importance (10).
Impact magnitude: 1/10The scale or severity of the real-world impact, from minor (1) to extreme (10).
Positivity: 3/10How harmful or beneficial the event is, from strongly harmful (1) to strongly positive (10).
Urgency: 2/10How time-sensitive the event is, from low urgency (1) to immediate attention needed (10).

Why it matters

The source clarifies that the satellite observation does not measure ground-level air quality or issue a health alert.

Location

Sources

Heavy satellite-observed smoke area centered at 41.581°N, 122.397°WNOAA/NESDIS Hazard Mapping System (HMS) Usage terms

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