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3 consecutive days with Canadian wildfire smoke across much of the north-central US

By Scott Bachmeier •

Sequence of GOES-19 True Color RGB images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 30 May [click to play animated GIF]

With numerous wildfires burning across the boreal forest regions of Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba during late May 2025, dense smoke began to move southward across much of the north-central US beginning on 30 May. GOES-19 (GOES-East) True Color RGB images along with the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) derived product from the CSPP GeoSphere site (above) showed the areal coverage and transport of this wildfire smoke on 30 May.

For the most part, the majority of this smoke remained aloft — and only reduced the surface visibility (the number at the bottom of each Ceiling/Visibility plot, in statute miles) at a handful of sites across northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and eastern Iowa (below).

Sequence of GOES-19 Visible images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 30 May, with Ceiling/Visibility observations plotted in cyan [click to play MP4 animation]

A Pilot Report over far northern Minnesota (below) indicated that smoke was reducing the visibility to 5 miles at an altitude of 5500 feet.

GOES-19 Visible image at 2011 UTC on 30 May, with cursor sampling of a Pilot Report over Minnesota [click to enlarge]

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On 31 May, GOES-19 True Color RGB and AOD imagery (below) revealed that some of the smoke was becoming entrained into the circulation of a compact area of mid-tropospheric low pressure that was moving southward from the Dakotas to Nebraska.

Sequence of GOES-19 True Color RGB images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 31 May [click to play animated GIF]

Smoke became particularly dense just north of this low, as it descended into the boundary layer — and the surface visibility was reduced to 1-2 miles at several sites across North and South Dakota (below).

Sequence of GOES-19 Visible images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 31 May, with Ceiling/Visibility observations plotted in cyan [click to play MP4 animation]

The depth of the smoke layer was notable — while the surface visibility was 2-1/2 miles at Watertown SD (KATY), a Pilot Report over that location indicated that haze was reducing the visibility to 5 miles at an altitude of 12,000 feet (below).

GOES-19 Visible image at 1826 UTC on 31 May, with cursor sampling of the surface report and a Pilot Report over Watertown SD [click to enlarge]

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Dense wildfire smoke persisted across much of the region on 01 June, as shown by GOES-19 True Color RGB and AOD imagery (below).

Sequence of GOES-19 True Color RGB images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 01 June [click to play animated GIF]

The surface visibility restrictions were generally confined to the eastern Dakotas/Nebraska and western Minnesota/Iowa (below).

Sequence of GOES-19 Visible images and Aerosol Optical Depth derived product on 01 June, with Ceiling/Visibility observations plotted in cyan [click to play MP4 animation]

While the surface visibility was 5 miles at Sioux Falls SD (KFSD), a nearby Pilot Report noted that haze was restricting the visibility to 3 miles at an altitude of 2200 feet (below).

GOES-19 Visible image at 1456 UTC on 01 June, with cursor sampling of the surface report and a Pilot Report over Sioux Falls SD [click to enlarge]

Categories: Air quality, Aviation, GOES-19, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images