Brief clearing last night but smoke to return today

Air quality today is forecast to be in the Good to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range. The Treasure Valley, Clearwater Basn, and the Idaho Panhandle could see brief periods of Unhealthy.

Last night, winds and showers from regional thunderstorms dispersed the thick smoke and haze across the Treasure Valley and the Central Mountains, but light smoke and haze has started to return this morning and continues to impact most of the state with light to patchy smoke and haze for North Idaho.

Afternoon winds will aid in limited dispersion of near surface smoke today for most areas of the state but will also bring smoke from the East Oregon fires into the Central Mountains and Treasure Valley and smoke from the Central Washington fires into the Idaho Panhandle. Light smoke from the northern California fires is flowing into the Owyhee Mountains.

The RAP-NCEP Near Surface Smoke initialized at 8am MDT July 25, 2024 shows light to patchy smoke and haze over portions of the Treasure Valley, the Central Mountains, and North Idaho. Light smoke and haze are seen over the rest of Idaho. Inversions breaking and afternoon winds will aid in the mixing out of some near surface smoke and haze across the state. As winds continue to increase, areas of patchy smoke will move into the Treasure Valley, the Central Mountains, and the Idaho Panhandle this evening raising AQI levels.