Idaho Smoke Map

Idaho Smoke Map Legend

**(Preliminary Data Warning: Data found on the map shown below is preliminary and is subject to change. Data is in local standard time format - no adjustment for daylight savings time.)

Friday, September 9, 2022

Smoky weekend ahead; many fires burning in Idaho

Air quality today is forecast to be in the Good to Unhealthy range.

Today, Idaho will see northwest flow aloft as a low-pressure system sits east of the Rockies. A high pressure ridge will return over the weekend before the next system approaches on Monday. In south Idaho, surface winds will be from the northwest to north-northeast at 5-15 mph with 15-20 mph gusts in the afternoon over southeast and eastern Idaho. North Idaho will have northeast winds at 5-15 mph. On Saturday, winds over south Idaho will be from the southeast to northeast at 5-15 mph, and winds over north Idaho will be from the northeast at 5-10 mph. On Sunday, expect afternoon winds over south Idaho to be from the northwest to northeast at 5-10 mph. Afternoon winds over north Idaho will be from the southwest to northeast at 5-10 mph. 

Expect continued smoke impacts from regional and local fires today and through the weekend over much of the state. Northeast and easterly winds will push the smoke to south Idaho and also pull in smoke from fires in Canada and Montana into north and central Idaho. These winds will minimize the smoke impacts over the eastern side of the state. Central Idaho will continue to see the greatest smoke impacts due to the proximity of the fires. On Saturday, easterly surface winds in the Snake River Plain will provide some relief. Expect smoke to settle overnight into the valleys, especially across central Idaho. On Sunday, the pattern looks to repeat as mild clearing is expected during the day and smoke settles overnight. 



Video: BlueSky 4km WRF initialized at 6pm MDT (09/08) shows some relief from heavy smoke during daylight hours before settling into valley drainages overnight.

No comments:

Post a Comment