Smoke Forecast for Tuesday, August 13, 2024 10:00 AM

August 13 2024

Current Conditions

A broad trough remains over Montana again on Tuesday. A disturbance rotating around this trough moves into Montana bringing another round of scattered showers and thunderstorms by Tuesday afternoon. A southwesterly flow will continue to pump smoke into the state from wildfires burning to our south and west.

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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 4,166 acres with 22% of the fire contained. A crew of 288 people are assigned to the Grouse fire.

At 9:00 AM Tuesday, Libby, Thompson Falls, Seeley Lake, Frenchtown, Missoula, Hamilton, Columbia Falls, Cut Bank, Choteau, Great Falls, Lewistown, and Sleeping Giant were enduring Moderate air quality.

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

Source: NOAA

Forecast

Another disturbance rotating around a trough of low pressure will provide chances for rain and thunderstorms again on Tuesday. Some of the stronger storms will generate heavy rain, frequent lightning, and gusty winds. There is some concern for rapid runoff and even debris flows over burn scars like the Horse Gulch burn. Strong outflow winds will create erratic fire behavior on ongoing wildfires.

High pressure builds across Montana on Wednesday. It will reduce the threat of showers and thunderstorms. Expect the usual diurnal fluctuations in smoke under this pattern. Smoke will tend to drain and pool into the valleys overnight, with better dispersion and air quality by the afternoon.

A southwesterly flow will persist for the next several days. This will tend to bring smoke from surrounding states into the Northern Rockies and Montana. However, near daily chances for precipitation will continue through the end of the week and into the weekend. This will help to moderate fire behavior and limit smoke production on existing fires.

By late Wednesday, the HRRR smoke model shows light smoke covering much of the state, with higher concentrations of smoke over Southwest Montana.

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
Goat Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	11 miles SE of Cascade, Idaho	385	0%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	31,256	27%
Dollar Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	18 mi. NE of Cascade, Idaho	1,376	0%
Bulltrout Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	15 miles WNW OF Stanley, ID	271	92%
Wapiti Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	2 miles southwest of Grandjean, ID	2,667	0%
Middle Fork Complex Fire: Bulldog, Nellie, Anderson - IDBOF	Idaho	9 miles east of Garden Valley, ID	5,781	1%
Snag Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9.5 miles East of Cascade, Idaho	17,118	0%
Paddock - IDBOD	Idaho	20 miles north of Emmett, Idaho	187,185	31%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	1,795	6%
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	5 miles west of Donnelly, ID	1,154	55%
Cliff Mountain - IDPAF	Idaho	25 Miles East of Joseph, Oregon	1,108	20%
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
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
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%
Black Canyon Fire - MTMTS	Montana	31 Miles Southeast of Cascade, MT	270	5%
Grouse - MTBDF	Montana	Ten miles southwest of Wise River, MT	4,157	22%
Miller Peak Fire - MTLNF	Montana	7 miles southeast of Missoula	2,724	86%
Elkhorn Ridge - MTBRF	Montana	West Fork District	2,482	0%
Johnson Fire - MTBRF	Montana	3 miles west of the Springer Memorial Community in the East Fork on the Bitterroot NF	270	0%
Pentagon Fire - MTFNF	Montana	45 miles SE of Bigfork, MT	62	0%
Black Mountain - MTHLF	Montana	6 miles northwest of Lincoln. Mont.	182	87%
Falls Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	20 miles NW of Burns	150,941	87%
North Willamette Complex - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette National Forest	4,024	NA
Dixon Fire - ORUPF	Oregon	Tiller, Oregon	1,997	0%
Cottage Grove - Lane 1 - OR77S	Oregon	Approximately 16 miles SE of Springfield, OR	22,998	21%
Warner Peak - ORSHR	Oregon	3 miles East of Plush, on the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge	59,170	4%
Warner Peak - ORSHR	Oregon	3 miles East of Plush, on the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge	59,170	4%
Telephone Fire - ORMAF	Oregon	16 miles north east of Burns, Oregon	53,989	64%
Sandstone Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	9 miles SW of Ripplebrook, OR, on the Mt. Hood National Forest	625	0%
Town Gulch - ORWWF	Oregon	Eagle Creek Rd Area, 24 Miles East of Baker City OR, 8 Miles N of Richland, OR	18,183	42%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	4,151	14%
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	8,466	20%
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Middle Fork area, west of Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park	4,929	0%
Battle Mountain Complex - OR97S	Oregon	West and south of Ukiah, OR	182,863	82%
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness	585	0%
Whisky Creek Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	East fork of Herman Creek, 6 miles SE of Cascade Locks, OR	1,865	0%
Ore Fire - ORWIF	Oregon	7 Miles NE of Blue River, OR	NA	NA
Willamette Complex Fires - South - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette Complex fires are to the north and south of Oakridge.	11,875	38%
Porcupine Fire - ORBUD	Oregon	Porcupine Reservoir	6,491	95%
Crazy Creek - OROCF	Oregon	Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR	84,512	60%
Courtrock Fire - OR95S	Oregon	7.1 Miles south of Monument, OR	20,019	97%
Lone Rock Fire - ORPRD	Oregon	Lonerock stretching to west of HWY 207 and south to HWY 19	137,222	98%
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	24,096	60%
Ruby Fire - WANCP	Washington	On Ruby Mountain in North Cascade National Park by Diablo and Ross Lake, 9 miles East of Newhalem	739	0%
Easy Fire - WAOWF	Washington	North Cascades Hwy 20 Corridor, 17 air miles west of Mazama, WA	2,130	0%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	38,420	13%
Williams Mine Fire-GPNF - WAGPF	Washington	3.5 miles NNW of Trout Lake WA	10,584	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.	189	0%
Lower Granite Fire - WANES	Washington	Northeast of Pomeroy, WA	14,482	100%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024