Smoke Forecast for Friday, August 2, 2024 9:00 AM

August 02 2024

Current Conditions

A ridge of high pressure will peak on Friday over the Northern Rockies and Montana, producing the hottest day of the week. After a slow start, fire behavior has begun to perk up on several regional wildfires.

The Grouse fire burning in the Pioneer Mountains grew significantly on Thursday and was the most active fire on satellite. It has grown to 800 acres with 0% of the fire contained. Numerous regional wildfires in Washington and Oregon grew on Thursday, and the smoke from these blazes is pouring into parts of Montana.

At 8:00 AM Friday, Frenchtown, Great Falls, Lewistown, Billings, Broadus, and Sidney were enduring Moderate air quality.

Friday morning’s satellite shows smoke trickling into Montana from fires burning upstream in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Monsoonal moisture is providing plenty of clouds over the Desert Southwest.

Source: NOAA

Forecast

Smoke will gradually increase over the Northern Rockies through Saturday as heat builds under a ridge of high pressure. Skies will be noticeably smokier after the break we enjoyed Wednesday and Thursday. Many of the valleys in Western Montana will break the century make Friday and Saturday. The combination of excessive heat, low humidity, and gusty afternoon winds will lead to erratic fire behavior on existing wildfires and deteriorating air quality.

Monsoonal moisture will arrive by late Saturday and Sunday. It will provide increasing clouds for the region, with chances for rain and thunderstorms. The shift in winds will provide chances for some beneficial rainfall. Much of the state, particularly west of the Continental Divide, is enduring a worsening drought. The thunderstorms will also bring the potential for lightning and the threat for new wildfires.

The moisture from the Desert Southwest will continue to stream north into Montana for much of the upcoming week. It should keep daily chances for rain and thunderstorms in the forecast. A cold front will move across the region by midweek. The combination of cooler temperatures, clouds, and precipitation should help ease fire behavior and smoke production for much of the state.

By Saturday afternoon, the HRRR smoke model shows increasing surface smoke over Western Montana from regional wildfires.

Source: HRRR Smoke

Conditions can change quickly as weather could stimulate active fires and the likelihood of new starts increases. Please keep track of concentrations at todaysair.mtdeq.us or the Fire and Smoke Map.

Current Wildfires

Current Wildfires
Incident	State	location	acres	containment
Wapiti Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	2 miles southwest of Grandjean	86	0%
Bulltrout Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	15 MILE WNW OF STANLEY, ID	292	15%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	620	7%
Cliff Mountain - IDPAF	Idaho	25 Miles East of Joseph, Oregon	1,107	0%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	18,734	0%
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	5 miles west of Donnelly, ID	909	2%
2024 Gwen Fire - IDIDS	Idaho	South of Juliaetta Idaho, about 30 miles outside Lewiston near State Highway 3 in Latah County	28,410	85%
Shepp - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southwest of Elk City, Idaho	100	NA
Ace Butte - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southeast of Grangeville, Idaho	75	NA
Anchor - IDNCF	Idaho	About half way between Hanover Mountain and Square Mountain in the Gospel Hump Wilderness	50	NA
Wye Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately four and a half miles northwest of Freeman Peak and seven miles northeast of the Moose Creek Airstrip	3,500	NA
Bluff Creek Complex - IDIPF	Idaho	The fires are burning along both sides of the Bluff Ridge, approximately 13 1/2 miles southeast of Avery, ID; five and a half miles west from Gold Creek Campground; and approximately two miles northwest of Junction Ridge.	432	NA
Bench Lake Fire - IDSTF	Idaho	8 miles south of Stanley, Idaho	2,595	85%
Oxbow Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	Near Oxbow dam in Hells Canyon	6,000	NA
Thunder Fire - IDSCF	Idaho	12 miles south, southwest of Salmon, ID	2,474	34%
Black Mountain - MTHLF	Montana	6 miles northwest of Lincoln. Mont.	76	0%
Miller Peak Fire - MTLNF	Montana	7 miles southeast of Missoula	2,724	65%
Muir Creek Fire - MTGNP	Montana	20 miles southeast of West Glacier, MT and east of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River	30	0%
Blacktail Canyon - MTBDF	Montana	4 miles southeast of Butte, MT	80	95%
Butler Creek Fire - MTMTS	Montana	5 miles northwest of Missoula	284	100%
Horse Gulch Fire - MTHLF	Montana	1/2 mile north of Canyon Ferry Dam near Helena, Montana	15,167	100%
Durkee Fire - ORVAD	Oregon	1 mile west of Durkee, Oregon	293,882	63%
Winding Waters Complex - OR97S	Oregon	23 miles east of Union, OR	752	29%
Microwave Tower Fire - OR95S	Oregon	5 miles WSW of Mosier, OR	1,311	84%
Lone Rock Fire - ORPRD	Oregon	Lonerock OR stretching to west of HWY 207 and south to HWY 19	137,222	83%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	2,043	5%
Whisky Creek Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	East fork of Herman Creek, 6 miles SE of Cascade Locks, OR	891	0%
Battle Mountain Complex - OR97S	Oregon	West and south of Ukiah, OR	179,080	23%
Adam Mountain - ORUPF	Oregon	Approximately 6 miles southeast of Dorena, Oregon	10,413	7%
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Middle Fork area, west of Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park	728	1%
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	5,622	11%
Badland Complex 2024 - ORVAD	Oregon	Baker County, Oregon	54,563	75%
Courtrock Fire - OR95S	Oregon	7.1 Miles S. of Monument, Oregon	19,282	41%
Ore Fire - ORWIF	Oregon	7 Miles NE of Blue River, OR	1,539	29%
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness	428	0%
Telephone Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	16 miles north east of Burns, Oregon	38,726	23%
Falls Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	20 miles NW of Burns	143,236	73%
Crazy Creek - OROCF	Oregon	Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR	31,440	5%
Cow Valley Fire - ORVAD	Oregon	West of Brogan and Northwest of Vale	133,490	99%
Easy Fire - WAOWF	Washington	North Cascades Hwy 20 Corridor, 17 air miles west of Mazama, WA	528	0%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	33,761	12%
Retreat - WASES	Washington	14 miles southwest of Naches, WA	34,759	37%
Pincer Two Fire - WAMSF	Washington	Johanasburg Mountain. 1 Mile East of Mineral Park C.G.	102	0%
Cougar Creek Fire - WASES	Washington	1 mile west of Hwy 129 and Grand Ronde river intersection	18,258	29%
Bridge Creek - WACOA	Washington	North of Bridge Creek, East of Elbow River	3,950	55%
Lower Granite Fire - WANES	Washington	Northeast of Pomeroy, WA	14,482	50%
Swawilla Fire - WACOA	Washington	North of Columbia River, East of Swawilla Basin, West of Hwy 21	50,012	65%
Black Canyon - WASES	Washington	10 Miles NW, Naches, WA	9,211	99%
South Columbia Basin - WANES	Washington	9.5 Miles WSW of Cheney, WA	252	100%
Big Horn Fire - WASES	Washington	7 miles SE of Bickleton Washington, and 7 miles N of Roosevelt, Washington	51,569	100%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024