Smoke Forecast for Tuesday, September 3, 2024 9:30 AM

September 03 2024

Current Conditions

A trough of low pressure will swing east across Montana on Tuesday. It will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms. The low will provide better mixing and should help to reduce the amount of surface smoke.

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 largest of the group is the Wye fire burning 30 miles west of Hamilton. This fire has burned more than 9,200 acres and is 0% contained.

On Tuesday, 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 4,200 acres and is 22% contained. The Johnson fire burning just east of Sula has burned more than 3,700 acres and is 0% contained. It is largely burning on land with no known fire history, so there is plenty of fuel for this fire. The Sharrott Creek fire just west of Stevensville has burned around 2,400 acres and is 0% contained. Lastly, the Ratio Mountain fire burning east of Butte has burned more than 1,100 acres and is 22% contained.

The Remington fire started in Wyoming on August 22. It is burning in mainly grassland and scrubland. The fire quickly expanded north into Montana and has now burned nearly 200,000 acres. The Remington fire is now 86% contained.

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

Tuesday morning’s satellite shows areas an area of low pressure moving across the Northern Rockies, with heavy smoke over Idaho and Oregon.

Source: NOAA

Forecast

A trough of low pressure shifts east over the Treasure State on Tuesday. It will provide scattered showers and storms. The main threats from these storms will be gusty outflow winds from a few of the stronger storms. The trough should shift the flow to the northwest, preventing wildfire smoke from impacting communities further away from the Idaho/Montana border that were seeing impacts over the weekend.

As the area of low-pressure swings east, a ridge of high pressure builds back over the Northern Rockies Wednesday and Thursday. This ridge will bring another round of unseasonably warm temperatures. The combination of dry fuels, gusty winds, and warm air will lead to additional growth on regional wildfires and increased smoke production. Under this pattern, air quality will likely deteriorate, particularly in communities adjacent to wildfires.

The ridge shifts east by Sunday as the flow turns more southwesterly. This will provide some monsoonal moisture for the Northern Rockies, with daily chances for afternoon storms. It will also send smoke from fires burning in Idaho into Western Montana. Stay tuned!

By late Wednesday, the HRRR smoke model shows a departing trough shifting much of the heaviest smoke south into Idaho.

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, ID	108,017	0%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	32,973	93%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles Southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	2,868	36%
Mineral Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	The fire is located approximately 12 miles north of Steck Park along the Snake River.	3,000	0%
Goat Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	11 miles SE of Cascade, Idaho	3,265	0%
Snag Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9.5 miles East of Cascade, Idaho	31,809	1%
Dollar Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	18 miles NE of Cascade, Idaho	4,010	0%
Middle Fork Complex Fire: Bulldog, Nellie, Anderson - IDBOF	Idaho	9 miles east of Garden Valley, ID	56,806	14%
Burnt Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	2,497	NA
Farrow Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	900	NA
Parks Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	3,850	NA
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	11 Miles NW of Cascade, ID	1,154	95%
Surprise Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Three and one-half miles NE of Hunter Peak, Fifteen miles NW of Darby, MT in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness	40	NA
Wye Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	East Moose creek Bridge to Elbow Bend impacted	7,739	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
Anchor Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	About half way between Hanover Mountain and Square Mountain in the Gospel Hump Wilderness	400	NA
Black Eagle Fire - IDSCF	Idaho, United States	21 miles west of Salmon	2,000	NA
Sharrott Creek Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Three miles west of Stevensville, Montana	2,399	NA
Remington Fire - MTGNF	Montana	14 miles NE of Leiter, WY, multiple counties in southeast Montana.	196,368	86%
Marsh Creek - MTHLF	Montana	12 Miles Southeast of Lincoln, MT	88	0%
Johnson Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Johnson fire is located in and out of the A-P wilderness & community of Springer	3,753	0%
Magruder Ridge Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Selway Bitterroot Wilderness	800	0%
Railroad-Daly Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Railroad Creek/ Skalkaho Creek confluence, 26 miles SE of Hamilton	160	0%
Elkhorn Ridge - MTBRF	Montana	West Fork District	2,482	0%
Ratio Mountain - MTBDF	Montana	15 miles northwest of Whitehall, MT.	1,058	NA
Grouse - MTBDF	Montana	Ten miles southwest of Wise River, MT	4,822	22%
McElwain Fire - MTMTS	Montana	10 miles west of Helmville, MT	116	50%
Big Hollow Fire - MTMTS	Montana	36 miles southwest of Dillon, MT	3,435	90%
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	11,141	78%
North Willamette Complex - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette National Forest	4,588	NA
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness, 16 miles west, north-west of Crescent Oregon.	851	0%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	5,918	60%
Copperfield Fire - OR98S	Oregon	10 miles east of Chiloquin, Oregon	3,241	0%
Cottage Grove - Lane 1 - OR77S	Oregon	Approximately 16 miles SE of Springfield, OR	25,305	93%
Willamette Complex Fires - South - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette Complex South fires are 8 miles north and 8 to 22 miles S-SE of Oakridge.	13,242	64%
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	2,092	25%
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Crater Lake National Park; Middle Fork area	5,282	46%
Crazy Creek - OROCF	Oregon	Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR	86,968	95%
Microwave Tower Fire - OR95S	Oregon	1 mile WSW of Mosier, OR	1,313	95%
Ruby Fire - WANCP	Washington	On Ruby Mountain in North Cascade National Park by Diablo and Ross Lake, 9 miles East of Newhalem	959	0%
Williams Mine Fire-GPNF - WAGPF	Washington	3.5 miles NNW of Trout Lake WA	12,161	31%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	38,735	23%
Pincer Two Fire - WAMSF	Washington	Johannesburg Mountain. 1 Mile East of Mineral Park Campground	211	0%
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%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024