More fires in the west, limited smoke impacts

There are a few more fires burning in our neighboring states now and some of their smoke is starting to transport into our area adding to the smoke coming from our own fires burning in central Idaho. Impacts today are expected to be limited to the vicinity of fires burning in central Idaho with a chance for some light smoke to come over from Washington and southwest Oregon. Some overnight drainage into the lower Treasure Valley is possible tomorrow morning before the inversion lifts by late morning. After this, smoke will be transported to the northeast. Smoke models are also suggesting locally high concentrations within the Salmon River Corridor from North Fork and south into Salmon tonight.

Data source: NOAA-HRRR Smoke:  Forecast vertically integrated smoke valid at 1200 UTC July 29th (0600 MDT July 29th). 

Activity picking up in Southern Idaho

Fire activity is starting to pick up a bit and there are a few fires burning now. There are still the ones around the Stanley area but now there are also some brush and grass fires burning in Southern Idaho.

Around the state, air quality has been in the GOOD category with isolated areas within the MODERATE category in central and southeastern Idaho. Forecasts for today and tomorrow show the state in the GOOD category except for the Boise area, which is forecast to reach the MODERATE category both today and tomorrow.

Smoke impacts are expected to be located across central Idaho and south to the Nevada/Utah border. Concentrations will be higher in the vicinity of the fires burning around Stanley as well as near the Sheep Fire burning in Butte County.There may be hazy conditions across southern Idaho from smoke coming from the south. Conditions in eastern Idaho, primarily within the Snake River Plain, are expected to degrade further today and tomorrow due to the Sheep Fire.

FireSmoke-Canada:  Forecast near-surface smoke valid at 0400 UTC July 26^th (2200 MDT July 25^th).  

Weekend is here!

The weekend has come and I'm sure there are some of you wanting to escape the coming heat and head to the mountains. I know I want to! Yesterday's AQI was in the GOOD category and it's forecasted to stay that way today and tomorrow.

Smoke impacts today are expected to be very limited, if any. There may be some local impacts in the vicinity of the wildfires burning in central Idaho; however, there are no major impacts expected through Saturday. Moving into Sunday, hazy conditions may develop over northern Idaho and central Idaho thanks to smoke from local and regional fires in Idaho and Washington. Increasing moisture in the air on Sunday into Monday will make the skies look hazier than usual.

Enjoy your weekend!

Very light smoke impacts possible

Hello Idaho! As was predicted, the weekend's storms produced a few fires. Most were brush fires and are largely contained and controlled. There are still two wildfires burning near Salmon and those in the major river drainages of East Central Idaho could potentially see some very light impacts this evening and should expect the same pattern on Wednesday. Right now, AQI monitors across the state have us in the GOOD category and are forecasted to stay in the GOOD category tomorrow, except for the Coeur d'Alene area which is forecasted to be in the MODERATE category today. This is driven by ozone, though, rather than wildfire smoke.

In this .gif below, be sure to check the possible smoke impact against the legend. Though it is showing PM, it is still at the lowest end of the values.

Data Source: USFS BlueSky: Forecast surface smoke valid at 0500 UTC July 17th (2300 MDT July 16th).

Slow Start to Fire Season So Far

We're just about halfway into July and so far, it's been a slow start to the wildfire season. There are two fires burning near Salmon; each are hovering around 300-400 acres. We haven't had much impact yet but don't be lulled into a false sense of security. The temperature is rising and the fuels are drying out which means we're getting more and more vulnerable to wildfire as the summer rolls along.

U.S. Forest Service states that the Great Basin is at a Preparedness Level 2 (which one being lowest rating and five being the highest). This basically means that geographic areas that are active can't accomplish their incident management objectives independently but that there is only the need for light to moderate mobilization of resources coming from the National Interagency Coordination Center. As the Preparedness Level rises, so does the availability of additional federal and state employees for fire mobilization, if needed.

Be safe and have a great weekend!!

Helpful Links

Now that you have an idea of what to expect for the summer and you’ve learned a little bit about air quality and how things get done, we’ll leave you with some helpful links as we head into a busy holiday weekend. Stay safe out there!!

Idaho Air Quality Monitors – Click over to the Air Quality Now tab to find many links to air quality monitors in Idaho

Daily Air Quality Forecasts and Outdoor Open Burning Map – so you’ll know what the forecasted AQI is and whether you should be setting up that backyard campfire

EPA Smoke Ready Toolbox – lots of resources for smoke and fire

Mobile App – take your air quality source with you! - Find this in Google Play or the Apple App Store. Search for “EPA’s SmokeSense.” Enter your zipcode and get air quality information, locations of nearby fires, and other important smoke and health information.

EPA's SmokeSense Screenshot. Google Play