One more day of local impacts before a wind shift brings smoke from the west

Air quality is currently good to moderate for most of the state with Reubens and Orofino seeing higher readings in the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" and "very unhealthy" categories, respectively. Lewiston is forecast to see "unhealthy for sensitive groups" air quality today. 

Visible satellite imagery this morning again indicates trapped smoke in the valleys and canyons near fires burning across the state but particularly in central and northern Idaho. This smoke should lift out as the sun rises though moderate to heavy localized impacts will continue throughout the day. Light winds will allow smoke from these fires to linger and form a haze across most of the northern half of the state.

One more day of northerly flow aloft will keep the heavy smoke from fires up and down the coast away from us. However, as the pattern begins to shift today into Friday expect this smoke to begin heading east and by late Friday morning, air quality will likely begin to degrade across North Idaho.

GOES West “true-color” visible satellite imagery from 8:01-8:56 AM MDT showing the sun rise illuminating numerous wildfire plumes and trapped smoke in canyons and valleys across Idaho. The heavy smoke from fires in the Cascades remains off to the west for one more day.