General clearing over state expected except for areas downwind of fires

Air quality forecasts for today are in the Good to Moderate Category with Salmon in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Category.

Storms will continue to develop throughout the day primarily over the Southern Highlands and enter into the Middle Snake River Plain. There will be a chance for showers over the elevated terrain of the Central Mountains and the Southeast Highlands this afternoon. High elevation ridge top winds could see 40+ mph in the Central Mountains. 

Elsewhere, surface winds will be between 10-20 mph from the southwest with locally northwest winds over the Treasure Valley. Tomorrow will see gusty winds of 30+ mph east of a line running from McCall to Twin Falls.  Tomorrow will see a chance for showers east of a line running from Boise to Salmon, which could serve to limit fire activity and smoke production heading into the weekend.  Surface wind speeds will be between 5-15 mph with gusts of 15-25 mph in eastern Idaho. 

Smoke will continue to affect the Central Idaho Mountains the greatest today with regional smoke again tracking from the west-southwest. Near Salmon, there is a thin, but intense, line of smoke running to the northeast. Areas outside this band will see improved air quality keeping in mind that the band can shift. There will be periods of haze; however, a general statewide clearing is expected, with the exception of those locations downwind of fires in east-central Idaho.

Video: Smoke coverage is decreasing today, but gusty winds may aggravate things this afternoon.  Tomorrow shows plenty of precipitation in the southeast and near the fires.  MP4 is HRRR modeled base reflectivity (RADAR) and indicates this precipitation coverage of thunderstorms today and widespread showers tomorrow.  Initialized at 12am MDT 0804.