Smoke Forecast for Monday, August 12, 2024 10:00 AM

August 12 2024

Current Conditions

A southwesterly flow continues to pump smoke into the Northern Rockies and Montana early Monday. Smoke from fires burning in and out of Montana is producing light smoke to start the week.

The Grouse fire burning in the Pioneer Mountains southwest of Wise River remains the wildfire of greatest concern in the state. It has grown to 4,157 acres with 10% of the fire contained. A crew of 339 people are assigned to the Grouse fire.

At 9:00 AM Monday, Bozeman, Butte, Choteau, Dillon, Columbia Falls, Great Falls, Hamilton, Libby, Missoula, Seeley Lake, Thompson Falls, and West Yellowstone were enduring Moderate air quality.

Monday morning’s satellite shows a trough swinging across Montana providing clouds and light smoke for the area.

Source: NOAA

Forecast

A southwesterly flow will keep things unsettled over the Northern Rockies and Montana this week. It will provide daily chances for showers and thunderstorms. The precipitation will help moderate fire behavior on existing fires. However, some of the stronger storms will generate gusty winds, which could bring erratic fire behavior at least temporarily.

Several active fires continue to burn across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. There are 5 active fires of greater than 100,000 acres burning in Oregon and Idaho alone. These large fires will continue to transport smoke into upstream states like Montana in the coming days. With this pattern, we can expect the usual diurnal trends in smoke production. As winds ease overnight, expect draining and pooling of smoke into valleys, as air quality deteriorates. Once the inversions break up around midday, better mixing will produce improved air quality.

The active weather pattern should linger into the weekend. A large area of low pressure will move onshore, enhancing the southwesterly push in Montana. Clouds and precipitation should help temper fire behavior and smoke production on existing wildfires.

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.

Currrent Wildfires

Current Wildfires
Incident	State	location	acres	containment
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	5 miles west of Donnelly, ID	1,154	52%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	29,684	27%
Cliff Mountain - IDPAF	Idaho	25 Miles East of Joseph, Oregon	1,108	20%
Middle Fork Complex Fire: Bulldog, Nellie, Anderson - IDBOF	Idaho	9 miles east of Garden Valley, ID	4,449	1%
Dollar Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	18 mi. NE of Cascade, Idaho	1,397	0%
Snag Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	11 miles East of Cascade, Idaho	10,571	0%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	1,795	6%
Paddock - IDBOD	Idaho	20 miles north of Emmett, Idaho	187,185	16%
Square Lake Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	All four fires are located within half a mile of each other: two and a half miles east of Concord, ID, less than a quarter acre east from Square Lake and less than a quarter acre west from Fish Lake.	30	NA
Wapiti Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	2 miles southwest of Grandjean, ID	2,452	0%
Bulltrout Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	15 miles WNW OF Stanley, ID	271	75%
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
Ace Butte Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southeast of Grangeville, Idaho	64	NA
Anchor Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	About half way between Hanover Mountain and Square Mountain in the Gospel Hump Wilderness	72	NA
Wye Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately four and a half miles northwest of Freeman Peak and seven miles northeast of the Moose Creek Airstrip	3,760	NA
Farrow Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	300	NA
Monumental Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	7	NA
Shepp Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southwest of Elk City, Idaho	100	NA
Bench Lake Fire - IDSTF	Idaho	8 miles south of Stanley, Idaho	2,595	90%
Miller Peak Fire - MTLNF	Montana	7 miles southeast of Missoula	2,724	86%
Grouse - MTBDF	Montana	Ten miles southwest of Wise River, MT	4,157	10%
Black Canyon Fire - MTMTS	Montana	31 Miles Southeast of Cascade, MT	351	0%
Johnson Fire - MTBRF	Montana	3 miles west of the Springer Memorial Community in the East Fork on the Bitterroot NF	270	0%
Elkhorn Ridge - MTBRF	Montana	West Fork District	2,482	0%
Black Mountain - MTHLF	Montana	6 miles northwest of Lincoln. Mont.	182	87%
Pentagon Fire - MTFNF	Montana	45 miles SE of Bigfork, MT	62	0%
Warner Peak - ORSHR	Oregon	3 miles East of Plush, on the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge	52,650	4%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	4,151	14%
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness	585	0%
Telephone Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	16 miles north east of Burns, Oregon	53,944	62%
Falls Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	20 miles NW of Burns	150,320	81%
Willamette Complex Fires - South - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette Complex fires are to the north and south of Oakridge.	11,875	38%
Dixon Fire - ORUPF	Oregon	Tiller, Oregon	1,600	0%
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	8,256	20%
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Middle Fork area, west of Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park	4,718	0%
North Willamette Complex - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette National Forest	3,640	NA
Pyramid and Slate Fires - ORWIF	Oregon	East of the Middle Santiam Wilderness	1,392	NA
Whisky Creek Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	East fork of Herman Creek, 6 miles SE of Cascade Locks, OR	1,750	0%
Sandstone Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	9 miles SW of Ripplebrook, OR, on the Mt. Hood National Forest	602	0%
Battle Mountain Complex - OR97S	Oregon	West and south of Ukiah, OR	182,858	77%
Ore Fire - ORWIF	Oregon	7 Miles NE of Blue River, OR	2,576	20%
Porcupine Fire - ORBUD	Oregon	Porcupine Reservoir	6,491	90%
Cottage Grove - Lane 1 - OR77S	Oregon	Approximately 16 miles SE of Springfield, OR	20,987	11%
Town Gulch - ORWWF	Oregon	Eagle Creek Rd Area, 24 Miles East of Baker City OR, 8 Miles N of Richland, OR	18,552	37%
Crazy Creek - OROCF	Oregon	Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR	82,279	60%
Lone Rock Fire - ORPRD	Oregon	Lonerock stretching to west of HWY 207 and south to HWY 19	137,222	98%
Courtrock Fire - OR95S	Oregon	7.1 Miles south of Monument, OR	20,019	97%
Badland Complex 2024 - ORVAD	Oregon	Baker County, Oregon	54,563	99%
Microwave Tower Fire - OR95S	Oregon	1 mile WSW of Mosier, OR	1,313	95%
Winding Waters Complex - OR97S	Oregon	23 miles east of Union, OR	752	83%
Durkee Fire - ORVAD	Oregon	1 mile west of Durkee, Oregon	294,265	95%
Cougar Creek Fire - WASES	Washington	1 mile west of Hwy 129 and Grand Ronde river intersection	23,614	50%
Williams Mine Fire-GPNF - WAGPF	Washington	3.5 miles NNW of Trout Lake WA	9,346	0%
Ruby Fire - WANCP	Washington	On Ruby Mountain in North Cascade National Park by Diablo and Ross Lake.	739	0%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	38,299	13%
Easy Fire - WAOWF	Washington	North Cascades Hwy 20 Corridor, 17 air miles west of Mazama, WA	2,130	0%
Retreat - WASES	Washington	14 miles WSE of Naches, WA	45,601	70%
Pincer Two Fire - WAMSF	Washington	Johannesburg Mountain. 1 Mile East of Mineral Park C.G.	115	0%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024