September 9, 2024 10:30 a.m.
Wildfire smoke covers large parts of Idaho, Oregon and Montana this morning (see image below). Fire danger is high today so expect smoke impacts to continue through Tuesday. A weather system coming through on Wednesday will hopefully clear the smoke out of the valleys and maybe some of the fires will be dampened. The GOES 18 satellite imagery below shows that the smoke has settled into the valleys. There are some clouds in the image, but that is a lot of smoke.
Many people in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys woke up with ash on their cars, this was most likely came from the the Sharrott Creek Fire. But there are also fires in Idaho that are impacting our airshed.
Air quality currently varies between Unhealthy and Very Unhealthy in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valley’s this morning and significant improvements are not expected till Wednesday.
Seeley Lake and the Flathead Valley also have Unhealthy air quality this morning, so it is just hard to get out of the smoke.
Unhealthy air quality has health impacts for everyone; everyone should limit outdoor activities, especially if they are high exertion activities. Sensitive groups such as children, asthmatics, pregnant persons, and those with heart of lung disease, should highly limit time spent outdoors and seek rest in a clean indoor air environment.
Keep your indoor air clean with portable air cleaners with HEPA filters or using high efficiency (MERV 13 or better) filters with your furnace fan. For more tips, check out the new fact sheet from EPA about coping with smoke and heat!
Keep an eye on changing conditions by both looking outside and checking the Fire and Smoke Map! (Note the Fire and Smoke Map just transitioned to a new version, so if you want to see smoke plumes, you’ll need to toggle them on.)
Here is hoping for clean air soon!
Benjamin Schmidt
Air Quality Specialist