Mavman said:
How is the smoke in Missoula??
Unfortunately football season usually means fires and poor air quality this time of year.
There is smoke today and there was some yesterday too. It got fairly bad at Flathead yesterday afternoon. There had smoke in Missoula several weeks ago too. Mostly from CA and Oregon. Not many fires in MT yet, and no big ones.
State air quality report from today:
Skies are clear east of the Divide this morning but smoke from fires in northwest Montana, the Idaho Panhandle, and Washington is impacting northwest Montana. Air quality is currently MODERATE in northwest Montana, and generally GOOD elsewhere. The rest of this week will be hot, with increasing haze, as smoke from the west coast fires travels up and over the ridge and back into Montana. Most of this smoke should be above ground level, causing hazy skies but only MODERATE air quality at the surface. Northwest Montana will likely see more significant impacts due to smoke from fires in northwest Montana, the Idaho Panhandle, and Washington.
Skies are hazy and air quality is MODERATE in northwest Montana this morning, with smoke visible on satellite moving in from Washington. Monitors in Libby, Columbia Falls, Thompson Falls, Frenchtown, Missoula, Seeley Lake, Helena, and Great Falls are all measuring MODERATE this morning. Elsewhere, Air quality is generally GOOD, with some light haze.
Fires in Montana have been active over the last 24 hours. In Northwest Montana, the Ten Mile fire, near Eureka, grew 105 acres to 531 acres and 21% contained. The Garden Creek fire, near Ronan, grew 23 acres to 524 acres and 4% contained. The Cougar fire, near East Hope, ID, grew 63 acres to 763 acres and 0% contained. The Medicine Man fire, near Laurel, grew by 100 acres to 550 acres and 90% contained. A hot spot is currently being detected near Medicine Lake by Philipsburg this morning. More information on that fire will likely be available tomorrow. Further west, fires remain very active in Washington, Oregon and California. There is a significant amount of smoke over eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle this morning, which is beginning to move into northwest Montana.
A ridge of high pressure is building into the region today, bringing extremely hot temperatures with it. We can expect temperatures at or near 100 degrees by Thursday and Friday this week. The ridge will also transport smoke from the fires in California, Oregon, and Washington up north and then eventually down over Montana as the smoke travels along the ridge. Most of this smoke will be above the ground, causing hazy skies, but likely only MODERATE air quality by mid-week. Northwest Montana will likely see more significant impacts, with smoke from the fires in that area likely causing persistent MODERATE to UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS air quality impacts throughout the week.
