Good to Moderate air quality expected today

Over North Idaho, light smoke and haze will linger through the day with limited clearing this afternoon before more light to patchy smoke and haze moves in from Washington and British Columbia and remains overnight. Central Idaho will see light smoke and haze drift in from Montana this afternoon and linger overnight. Light smoke and haze are entering the Snake River Plain through East Idaho this morning from the East Central Mountains and Montana. The easterly afternoon winds will nudge the light smoke and haze towards the Treasure Valley. Light smoke and haze will linger over South Idaho overnight. As temperatures decrease tonight, lingering smoke and haze across Idaho will become trapped under surface temperature inversions and settle in valleys and low-lying areas which will raise local AQI levels until the inversions break later in the morning. With warmer and drier conditions forecasted for the future, look for smoke production to possibly increase towards the end of the week. The highest AQI levels will be seen around those fires localized to the Central Mountains and North Idaho. Those areas could experience brief periods of UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. All other areas of the state should be GOOD to MODERATE.

NOAA GOES-West GeoColor (true color) visible satellite image captured at 15:01 UTC (9:01 a.m. MDT) on 17 September 2025 shows a few areas of fog and low clouds in the Clearwater Basin and North Idaho with light smoke and haze seen over the Idaho Panhandle, the Clearwater Basin, and the Snake River Plain.