Smoke Season is Ending!

Yesterday's AQI was in the GOOD category across the state and is expected to stay there for awhile. There could be smoke increases in California late this week or next week but we’re not sure it will reach us or even develop. If it did develop, it wouldn’t get here until 10/21 at the earliest and it would be short lived as the flow pattern would turn back to west/northwest by 23^rd or 24^th. All this to say, we believe the smoke season is ending! And what a season it was! We had several days of significant smoke impacts in August and September - mostly due to smoke traveling from California, Oregon, and Washington. 

Keep an eye on the air quality monitors if you are a smoke sensitive individual. The Woodhead fire is still burning but fire activity is minimal at this point. You can keep up to date on this fire and any others at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/. This will give you information such as size, location, and fire activity. The top of the smoke blog or the DEQ main monitoring page can keep you informed of air quality at the monitor nearest you. This blog is seasonal and is not maintained daily during the off season. We check it for comments and needed updates to contact information but will not post regularly until the next wildfire season.

The National Interagency Coordination Center shows Idaho in the “normal” range for October. 

Clear skies!

It's finally clear. A rainy weekend scoured the smoke from Idaho and a west to northwest flow pattern will keep the regional smoke out of Idaho today. 

EPA Air Now Fire and Smoke Map:  Good air quality is present over Idaho and all of the Pacific Northwest this morning.

Scoured skies by tomorrow evening

Hazy conditions are expected to remain in place today as regional smoke increases in density and coverage to encompass all of Idaho. Surface smoke looks to remain over southern Idaho and expand north throughout the day into the Central Idaho Mountains while the Panhandle looks to remain relatively clear. A cold front will help to beginning clearing Idaho in the north tomorrow morning by 6 am. By 6pm, southern Idaho looks to be completely scoured. 

There's a chance that conditions will remain clear through the weekend and early next week thanks to anticipated northwest flow and precipitation through Tuesday. 

HRRR-Smoke 06z Near-Surface Smoke: Regional smoke encompasses all of Idaho this afternoon before clearing from north to south tomorrow.

Clear in the north, hazy in the south

Hazy conditions are present over southern Idaho. These conditions are expected to remain in place today as regional smoke increases in density and coverage to encompass all of Idaho. A cold front will help to clear northern Idaho this afternoon from north to south reaching as far south as the Salmon River while southern Idaho south of the Salmon should expect to see hazy conditions throughout the forecast period.  

HRRR-Smoke 00z Near-Surface Smoke:  Regional smoke encompasses all of Idaho this afternoon before clearing in the north tonight.
 

Hazy conditions today

Hazy conditions are present over southern Idaho and these conditions are expected to remain in place as regional smoke increases in density and coverage to encompass all of Idaho. At the surface, smoke looks to remain over southern Idaho and expand north throughout the day into the Central Idaho Mountains.  

Tomorrow looks to bring smoke currently over Oregon and Washington into western Idaho tomorrow morning and expanding through Central Idaho to the Montana border by 6pm tomorrow evening.  Smoke aloft is anticipated to increase throughout the day tomorrow across all of Idaho, excluding the extreme northern Panhandle. This smoke is anticipated to mix down to the surface with a more neutral flow regime establishing tonight and tomorrow.

HRRR-Smoke 06z Vertically Integrated Smoke:  Regional smoke approaches from the south into southern Idaho today increasing both in density and coverage and moving in from the west tomorrow.

Lofted and surface smoke on the way

Beginning around 12noon today, lofted smoke enters southern Idaho.  Surface smoke will also enter southern Idaho in the afternoon and looks to expand into the Snake River Plain in the afternoon and evening.  

Regional wildfire smoke looks to increase through the day tomorrow in both density and coverage across Idaho with surface smoke reaching as far north as Idaho County before becoming interspersed north to the Canadian border. Lofted smoke will reach as far north as Kootenai County by 3pm MDT tomorrow with coverage across all of southern Idaho.  Smoke from local fires will continue to produce smoke in those areas.

HRRR-Smoke 06z Vertically Integrated Smoke:  Regional smoke approaches from the south into southern Idaho today increasing both in density and coverage and continues to expand across all of Idaho by tomorrow evening as smoke moves in from both the south and west.

Slow improvement today and good conditions tomorrow

Conditions are expected to slowly improve with the Lower and Middle Snake River Plain clearing out by noon and eastern Idaho beginning to clear out by 3-6pm. Conditions look to remain good into tomorrow morning.  By 10am-12noon, lofted smoke enters southern Idaho.  This smoke will reach the surface in the late morning and afternoon and looks to expand into the Snake River Plain in the afternoon and evening.  Regional wildfire smoke looks to increase through the day tomorrow and sit along the south Idaho border.

06Z HRRR-Smoke Near-Surface Smoke: Smoke at the surface is anticipated to track out of southern Idaho today, allowing for a relatively smoke-free Tuesday.

Continued Smoke Aloft; Potential for Weekend Increases

 

Air quality forecasts for today are in the good to moderate category.                    

Regional smoke is expected to stay out of Idaho today with smoke from California fires tracking over portions of central and southern Idaho aloft.  This lofted smoke is over central Idaho along the OR/WA/ID intersection this morning and will track to the south-southeast expanding over the Lower and Middle Snake River Plain.  

The atmosphere will be slightly more unstable tomorrow, allowing this smoke to reach the surface in the afternoon and evening across central and southwest Idaho, particularly in the late morning hours.  By 9pm, this wave of lofted smoke will span the entire state from the Canadian border to the Nevada border and east to the Middle Snake River Plain.  Because of the timing of this smoke, it is not expected to reach the surface; however, if it arrives earlier, that possibility then exists.  By Sunday, the zonal flow should help alleviate any smoke issues as the flow aloft becomes separated from California and will limit smoke to the southern border. 

Smoke impacts at the surface are expected to be limited to areas near any local fires with the possibility of hazy surface smoke on Saturday afternoon over central and southwest Idaho.  Generally hazy conditions with smoke aloft should be expected across the southwest and portions of central Idaho and expanding in coverage tomorrow afternoon and evening to encompass all of northern Idaho as well as southern Idaho into the Middle Snake River Plain.

06Z HRRR-Smoke Vertically Integrated Smoke: Smoke modeled at midnight MDT Sunday morning indicates a streak of lofted smoke spanning the entire state from north to south.  This smoke is expected to stay aloft and not reach the surface.

Hazy conditions expected

Air quality is forecast to be in the good to moderate category today across the state.

California smoke should begin to come in tomorrow morning along the OR/WA/ID border and track to the south-southeast expanding over the Lower and Middle Snake River Plain. Haze will reach the NV/ID/UT border by around 3pm tomorrow. 

Smoke impacts are expected to be limited to areas near any local fires. Generally hazy conditions should be expected across the southwest and portions of central Idaho today and expanding in coverage tomorrow morning and afternoon.

06Z HRRR-Smoke Vertically Integrated Smoke: Smoke will track north along the Pacific Coast before tracking east into central Idaho and then dropping south into southern Idaho tomorrow.  This smoke is expected to stay aloft.