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Wildfire, fire management and air quality news for western Montana and the Northern Rockies.

Air Quality Update For Western Montana, August 16, 2017

12:40 p.m. update from Missoula City-County Air Quality Specialist Sarah Coefield:

Good afternoon, Welp. It got bad out there, folks.

Air quality in Missoula plummeted faster than I anticipated, and we have Unhealthy conditions in town. Air quality is also Unhealthy in Lolo and Florence.

When air quality is Unhealthy, people with heart or lung disease, smokers, children and the elderly should limit heavy or prolonged exertion and limit time spent outdoors. People with asthma should follow their asthma management plan. People experiencing symptoms of heart or lung disease associated with smoke exposure should contact their health care provider.

Frenchtown just hit Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, which was, at least, expected. It's not good, it just isn't surprising. When air quality is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, people with heart or lung disease, children and the elderly should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.

The smoke recently started to lift out of Seeley Lake, Condon, Rainy Lake and Arlee. I'm still optimistic Missoula will also see some improvement this afternoon. However, there may be more significant smoke impacts tonight. I'll send out a more thorough update this afternoon.

Breathe careful.

9:30 a.m:

"Good morning, I have a lot of important stuff to tell you all this morning, but you guys, the satellite photo from this morning is amazing. Seriously. Scroll (up), check them out, then come back up and read about what you just saw and what you can expect to see today. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Good? Ok. Let's get started.

When you got up this morning, did you see that brown haze obscuring the mountain tops? That's the smoke that's been generated by the Sunrise and Lolo Peak Fires since last evening that's been hanging around right above the inversion layer. It's not currently in our breathing space, but it will be soon. That smoke is likely to mix down and cause air quality in the Missoula Valley to deteriorate within the next few hours. We may still have some hours of decent air later this afternoon, simply due to gusty winds scouring the valley, but until that (hopefully) happens, we're likely to have some smoke where we want our air to be. Conditions in the Missoula Valley and Frenchtown may reach Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups by noon.

There was a lot of fire activity last evening, and we are seeing smoke pooling in valleys near the active fires. Seeley Lake is, once again, swamped with smoke. Conditions in Seeley Lake are Hazardous. Again. We all know the drill by now. The thick smoke from the Rice Ridge Fire will start to lift up later this morning when the sun is able to penetrate through the smoke to warm up the ground, which will in turn warm up the layer of cold air that's currently trapping the smoke in the valley. (This is how inversions break.) The inversion in Seeley Lake is pretty strong this morning, but there should be significant improvements by noon. As a reminder, we consider air quality to be Good when the NowCast PM2.5 concentration is no more than 12 ug/m3. The air quality is Hazardous when the NowCast hits 250 ug/m3. At 8:00 a.m., the NowCast for Seeley Lake was 667.1 ug/m3.

When air quality is Hazardous, all people should limit or avoid outdoor exertion and leave the area or stay indoors with filtered air when possible. Anyone experiencing symptoms of heart of lung disease associated with smoke exposure should contact their health care provider. The Health Department has recommended Seeley Lake residents get out of the smoke if they are able to. You can find the official recommendation and some helpful resources online.

The smoke from the Liberty Fire has settled into the Arlee area, and conditions in that valley are currently Unhealthy. The Liberty Fire has been growing into the Gold Creek drainage, and it looks like it's sending smoke to the Potomac Valley this morning. Conditions in the Potomac Valley may be Unhealthy. The Liberty Fire smoke also looks to be reaching Clearwater Junction, where conditions are currently Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. (I can't find the Liberty Fire on Inciweb today. Its old link goes to the blue Bay Fire on Flathead Lake. Here's a link to the Montana Inciweb

Lolo and Florence are seeing smoke from the Lolo Peak Fire. The air quality is currently Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups at those monitors, but it is trending toward Unhealthy and may hit that point later this morning.

When air quality is Unhealthy, people with heart or lung disease, smokers, children and the elderly should limit heavy or prolonged exertion and limit time spent outdoors. People with asthma should follow their asthma management plan. People experiencing symptoms of heart or lung disease associated with smoke exposure should contact their health care provider.

Today, we will probably all see varying levels of smoke. Conditions will be worst near the active fires - I expect some improvement for Lolo, Florence, Clearwater Junction, Arlee, the Potomac Valley and Seeley Lake, simply due to convection, but there will be smoke mixing down this morning, so these areas probably won't see complete clearing. Seeley Lake will have the most significant improvement.

We are looking at west winds today, which means the Bitteroot Valley will see smoke headed their direction from fires in Idaho, and plumes from the Lolo Peak and Sunrise Fires will be visible from the Missoula Valley. The Liberty Fire may send smoke toward Seeley Lake later this afternoon. We are seeing a westerly flow aloft that is becoming more northwestern, and Canadian smoke is starting to visit the northern edge of Montana. I'm not anticipating Canadian smoke in our mix today, but it is creeping toward us.

I think our best chance for smoke clearing in the Missoula area will be in the late afternoon when the pressure drops a tad and the winds pick up. The strong winds, sunshine and warm temperatures mean we may be looking at increased fire activity today and more smoke tonight."

Edward O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the UM School of Journalism. He covers a wide range of stories from around the state.
edward.obrien@umt.edu.  
(406) 243-4065
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