Smoke Forecast for Friday, August 30, 2024 9:30 AM

August 30 2024

Current Conditions

High pressure builds across the Northern Rockies on Friday and into the weekend. It will allow smoke from regional wildfires to return to parts of the Treasure State.

There are numerous active fires burning in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and Montana. These fires will continue to spread smoke into portions of Western Montana in the coming days. The Elkhorn Ridge fire has burned more than 3,120 acres and is 0% contained. It is burning along the Salmon River just a few miles west of the Montana border. Just west of Salmon, Idaho, the Burnt Creek fire expanded again on Wednesday. It has burned close to 2,500 acres and is 0% contained. The Wye fire is burning 30 miles west of Hamilton and has burned more than 7,000 acres. It is 0% contained.

On Thursday, there were four fires burning in Western Montana that exhibited active fire behavior. The Grouse fire burning just east of Wisdom has burned more than 4,000 acres and is 22% contained. The Johnson fire burning just east of Sula has burned 400 acres and is 0% contained. The Sharrott Creek fire just west of Stevensville has burned over 1,300 acres and is 0% contained. Lastly, the Ratio Mountain fire burning east of Butte has burned more than 400 acres and is 9% contained.

The Remington fire started in Wyoming last week. It is burning in mainly grassland and scrubland. The fire quickly expanded north into Montana over the weekend and has now burned nearly 200,000 acres. A crew of 196 has made considerable progress on the fire which is now 66% contained.

At 9:00 AM Friday, Hamilton was enduring Moderate air quality.

Friday morning’s satellite shows little to no smoke over Western Montana, with heavy smoke across much of central and southern Idaho.

Source: NOAA

Forecast

High pressure will be the main story throughout the Labor Day weekend. It will provide mostly dry conditions for the Northern Rockies. Temperatures will gradually moderate, with highs into the 80s and 90s, well above seasonal averages. There are several active wildfires now burning in Southwest Montana. Due to the combination of warm temperatures, low humidity, and limited precipitation, these fires will likely expand in the coming days. Air quality is expected to deteriorate, particularly over Southwest Montana, including the Bitterroot Valley.

A southwesterly flow will return by late Monday and Tuesday. This pattern will bring smoke from giant wildfires burning in the mountains of Central Idaho into parts of Montana. A weak area of low pressure will also kick off a few showers and thunderstorms and provide slightly cooler temperatures.

Unseasonably warm air returns by midweek thanks to upper-level ridging. This will provide another round of highs well into the 80s and 90s. Expect active fire weather and increased smoke production on wildfires under this pattern, with the usual diurnal fluctuations in surface smoke. Unfortunately, there is little to no precipitation expected for Montana over the next 7-days, so air quality will become an issue, particularly for communities adjacent to wildfires. Stay tuned!

By midday Saturday, the HRRR smoke model shows heavy smoke moving into Southwest Montana, including the Bitterroot Valley.

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
Middle Fork Complex Fire: Bulldog, Nellie, Anderson - IDBOF	Idaho	9 miles east of Garden Valley, ID	53,689	6%
Wapiti Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	2 miles southwest of Grandjean, ID	92,141	0%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	32,735	93%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	2,372	57%
Snag Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9.5 miles East of Cascade, Idaho	28,454	3%
Goat Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	11 miles SE of Cascade, Idaho	2,580	0%
Dollar Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	18 miles NE of Cascade, Idaho	3,442	0%
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	11 Miles NW of Cascade, ID	1,154	95%
Anchor Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	About half way between Hanover Mountain and Square Mountain in the Gospel Hump Wilderness	400	NA
Wye Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	East Moose creek Bridge to Elbow Bend impacted	6,763	NA
Cracker Jack Complex - 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.	1,345	NA
2024 Flat - IDIDS	Idaho	One mile east of Pioneerville, Idaho	3,734	61%
Farrow Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	852	NA
Burnt Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	600	NA
Parks Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	2,043	NA
Surprise Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Three and one-half miles NE of Hunter Peak, Fifteen miles NW of Darby, MT in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness	20	NA
Bulltrout Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	15 miles WNW OF Stanley, ID	271	92%
Monumental Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	11	NA
Ace Butte Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southeast of Grangeville, Idaho	152	NA
Sharrott Creek Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Three miles west of Stevensville, Montana	1367	NA
Remington Fire - MTGNF	Montana	14 miles NE of Leiter, WY, multiple counties in southeast Montana.	196,238	66%
Johnson Fire - MTBRF	Montana	3 miles west of the Springer Memorial Community in the East Fork on the Bitterroot NF	861	0%
Railroad-Daly Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Railroad Creek/ Skalkaho Creek confluence, 26 miles SE of Hamilton	141	1%
Marsh Creek - MTHLF	Montana	12 Miles Southeast of Lincoln, MT	4	0%
McElwain Fire - MTMTS	Montana	10 miles west of Helmville, MT	176	25%
Big Hollow Fire - MTMTS	Montana	36 miles southwest of Dillon, MT	3,435	80%
Ratio Mountain - MTBDF	Montana	15 miles northwest of Whitehall, MT.	451	NA
Grouse - MTBDF	Montana	Ten miles southwest of Wise River, MT	4,200	22%
Elkhorn Ridge - MTBRF	Montana	West Fork District	2,482	0%
North Willamette Complex - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette National Forest	4,487	NA
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Crater Lake National Park; Middle Fork area	5,281	42%
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	11,152	77%
Cottage Grove - Lane 1 - OR77S	Oregon	Approximately 16 miles SE of Springfield, OR	25,267	93%
Willamette Complex Fires - South - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette Complex South fires are 8 miles north and 8 to 22 miles S-SE of Oakridge.	13,091	NA
Crazy Creek - OROCF	Oregon	Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR	86,968	93%
Sandstone Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	9 miles SW of Ripplebrook, OR, on the Mt. Hood National Forest	702	75%
Whisky Creek Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	East fork of Herman Creek, 6 miles SE of Cascade Locks, OR	2,084	24%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	5,910	60%
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness, 16 miles west, north-west of Crescent Oregon.	755	0%
Lone Rock Fire - ORPRD	Oregon	Lonerock stretching to west of HWY 207 and south to HWY 19	137,222	98%
Williams Mine Fire-GPNF - WAGPF	Washington	3.5 miles NNW of Trout Lake WA	11,798	31%
Ruby Fire - WANCP	Washington	On Ruby Mountain in North Cascade National Park by Diablo and Ross Lake, 9 miles East of Newhalem	959	0%
Upper Ruby - WACOF	Washington	Ruby Creek Drainage - approximately 16 miles northwest of Cusick, WA	280	76%
Pincer Two Fire - WAMSF	Washington	Johannesburg Mountain. 1 Mile East of Mineral Park Campground	189	0%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	38,735	23%
Easy Fire - WAOWF	Washington	North Cascades Hwy 20 Corridor, 17 air miles west of Mazama, WA	2,130	36%
Retreat - WASES	Washington	14 miles WSE of Naches, WA	45,601	85%
Stranger Creek II - WACOA	Washington	NA	66	90%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024