Smoke and haze remains - largest impacts around Bench Lake Fire and Treasure Valley

Today’s air quality is forecast to be in the Good to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range.

Patchy smoke and haze is lingering across North Idaho and the Central Mountains with slow movement to the east. Limited dispersion of near surface smoke is expected this afternoon when inversions break. Later this afternoon, winds will shift from a westerly direction and push the patchy smoke from Washington and Oregon into the state where it will linger in the Central Mountains, Treasure Valley, and North Idaho. Overnight, lingering smoke and haze can become trapped under surface inversions potentially raising AQI levels until inversions break tomorrow morning. The highest AQI levels will be seen around the Bench Lake Fire and parts of the western Treasure Valley, due to smoke from the Durkee Fire in Oregon, with brief periods of UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS possible in other areas.

The RAP-NCEP Near Surface Smoke initialized at 7am MDT July 22, 2024 shows patchy smoke and haze over portions of the Central Mountains and North Idaho. Light smoke and haze are seen over the rest of Idaho.