Updated Noon MDT Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Valid through noon MDT Thursday, August 22, 2013
Smoke Outlook
Idaho DEQ has issued a Stage 1 Forecast and
Caution the following counties
·
Camas,
Blaine, and Lemhi – The Stage 1 is effective through Friday, August 23, at
which time it will be re-evaluated and either extended or lifted.
The Ketchum/Hailey area is continuing to
experiencing Very Unhealthy to Hazardous air quality in the morning due to
smoke from the Beaver Creek fire.
Significant smoke impacts are expected to continue in the Ketchum/Hailey
area through tomorrow morning. Air
quality will improve during the afternoon hours before smoke moves back in
during the night. Air quality is forecasted to be in the Unhealthy with periods
in the Hazardous for Ketchum/Hailey and moderate to unhealthy for sensitive
groups for other areas in the central Idaho mountains near the fires.
Salmon is experiencing Unhealthy air quality
due to smoke from the Thunder City Fire, which is located 4 miles east of
Stibnite, Idaho. Salmon will continue to
experience unhealthy air quality for most of the day today. Air quality may improve to the moderate
category for a couple of hours this afternoon before deteriorating back to the
Unhealthy category. So far, Challis has
not been impacted by smoke from the fires in central Idaho. Salmon is forecasted
to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups to Unhealthy today.
Atlanta is beginning to experience
significant smoke impacts due to the Little Queens fire, which is located north
of Atlanta. Air
quality is forecasted to be in the Unhealthy for Atlanta today and tomorrow
morning.
Sensitive groups such as people with heart
and/or lung disease, adults over age 65, young children, and pregnant women
should avoid all outdoor activities until air quality improves. Everyone else
should minimize outdoor activities. When air quality is in the
hazardous category (visibility of less than 1 mile) everyone should stay
indoors and avoid exertion.
Light west winds will continue to transport smoke towards the east
today and tomorrow morning. However, the
smoke will not be transported very far from the fires before the evening
inversion sets up which will bring the smoke back down to the surface. Smoke from the Incendiary fire near Kamiah in
north central Idaho is expected to be transported to the southeast; however,
tonight the smoke should drain down valley and settle in the lower valleys.
7 emergency monitors have been installed in Idaho to help monitor
smoke impacts from wildfires:
·
DEQ has installed monitors in
Mountain Home, Fairfield, Ketchum, and east Boise. The information can be found
at http://app.airsis.com/USFS/fleet.aspx
o
Fairfield – #Idaho1000
o
Mountain Home - #Idaho1002
o
Ketchum - #Idaho1005
o
Boise - #Idaho1003
·
The USFS installed monitors in
Lowman, Atlanta, and Challis. The information can be found at http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/smoke.pl
o
Lowman monitor is Smoke#19 –
monitor currently is not functioning properly, the data is not considered valid
o
Atlanta monitor is Smoke#13
o
Challis monitor is Smoke#21
o
Users should be aware that the Forest Service
site reports the data in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). To convert
from UTS to Mountain Daylight Time, subtract 6 hours.
Visit the Idaho Smoke
Information Blog at: www.idsmoke.blogspot.com
Smoke forecasts are dependent
on predicted fire growth and weather. If
conditions change unexpectedly, impacts could occur. When visibility starts to go below 5 miles,
sensitive groups should minimize outdoor activities. Everyone else should minimize prolonged or
physical activity outdoors. Refer to the
Smoke and Health Tab on the Idaho Smoke Information
Blog for additional health
information.
Your eyes are your best tools to determine if it’s
safe to be outside. Even if you smell smoke, the air quality may
still be good.
|
AQI
Category
|
Visibility
(miles)
|
|
Good
|
11+
|
|
Moderate
|
6-10
|
|
Unhealthy for Sensitive
Groups
|
3-5
|
|
Unhealthy
|
1½ -2¾
|
|
Very Unhealthy
|
1-1¼
|
|
Hazardous
|
Less than 1
|
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