Smoke Forecast for Thursday, September 5, 2024 9:30 AM

September 05 2024

Current Conditions

High pressure will dominate the weather pattern across the Northern Rockies in the coming days. Numerous active fires continue to burn across Montana and Idaho, but light winds should keep the bulk of the surface smoke from Idaho’s wildfires south of Montana.

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 almost 9,500 acres and is 0% contained.

The Wapiti fire is currently the largest wildfire in Idaho. It’s burning in the mountains of the Boise National Forest of Central Idaho. It has burned more than 110,000 acres and is only 8% contained.

Several fires burning in Western Montana are slowly expanding. The Grouse fire burning just east of Wisdom has burned around 5,000 acres and is 22% contained. The Johnson fire burning just east of Sula has burned more than 4,300 acres and is 0% contained. The Sharrott Creek fire just west of Stevensville is the largest staffed wildfire in the state, with 626 personnel assigned to it. has burned more than 2,800 acres and is 23% contained. Lastly, the Ratio Mountain fire burning east of Butte has burned more than 1,200 acres. It is 54% 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 88% contained.

At 9:00 AM Thursday, Libby, Frenchtown, Hamilton, Bozeman, and Broadus were enduring Moderate air quality.

Thursday morning’s satellite shows light smoke over Western Montana, with heavier smoke over Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

Source: NOAA

Forecast

A ridge of high pressure will continue to dominate the weather pattern across the Northern Rockies Thursday and into the weekend. It will produce unseasonably warm air, with highs well into the 80s and 90s. Winds will be light and variable, so the typical diurnal smoke patterns can be expected. For valleys adjacent to active wildfires like the Bitterroot and Big Hole, smoke will tend to drain overnight, with the worst air quality by late morning. As the inversion lifts, better mixing will help to scour out the surface smoke, leading to better afternoon air quality.

By late Sunday, a southwesterly flow will return to the region. This will begin to send smoke from fires burning upstream in Idaho, back into the Treasure State. Surface concentrations of smoke could deteriorate as a result, particularly across the western half of the state. The flow will also provide more moisture and introduce the potential for a few scattered thunderstorms.

By Wednesday, most forecast models bring a trough of low pressure into Montana. This will lead to progressively cooler air and provide chances for much-needed rain. Stay tuned!

By late Friday, the HRRR smoke model shows smoke impacting Southwest Montana from fires burning across the region.

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	3,952	0%
Dollar Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	18 miles NE of Cascade, Idaho	4,137	8%
Wapiti Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	2 miles southwest of Grandjean, ID	112,321	8%
Middle Fork Complex Fire: Bulldog, Nellie, Anderson - IDBOF	Idaho	9 miles east of Garden Valley, ID	57,836	28%
Boulder Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9 Miles Southwest of Cascade, Idaho.	3,842	24%
Snag Fire - IDBOF	Idaho	9.5 miles East of Cascade, Idaho	32,204	12%
Limepoint Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	8 miles NE of Oxbow Dam	32,998	95%
Anchor Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	About half way between Hanover Mountain and Square Mountain in the Gospel Hump Wilderness	400	NA
Ace Butte Fire - IDNCF	Idaho	Approximately 30 miles Southeast of Grangeville, Idaho	152	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
Wolf Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	11 Miles NW of Cascade, ID	1,154	95%
Parks Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	3,850	NA
Farrow Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	900	NA
Burnt Creek Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	NA	2,497	NA
Mineral Fire - IDPAF	Idaho	The fire is located approximately 12 miles north of Steck Park along the Snake River.	15,000	0%
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
Red Rock Fire - IDSCF	Idaho, United States	15 miles west of Salmon, ID	189	0%
Black Eagle Fire - IDSCF	Idaho, United States	21 miles west of Salmon	1,949	NA
Remington Fire - MTGNF	Montana	14 miles NE of Leiter, WY, multiple counties in southeast Montana.	196,368	88%
Sharrott Creek Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Three miles west of Stevensville, Montana	2,873	25%
Railroad-Daly Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Railroad Creek/ Skalkaho Creek confluence, 26 miles SE of Hamilton	1,670	0%
Magruder Ridge Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Selway Bitterroot Wilderness	800	0%
Johnson Fire - MTBRF	Montana	Johnson fire is located in and out of the A-P wilderness & community of Springer	4,325	0%
Ratio Mountain - MTBDF	Montana	15 miles northwest of Whitehall, MT.	1,158	NA
McElwain Fire - MTMTS	Montana	10 miles west of Helmville, MT	116	60%
Grouse - MTBDF	Montana	Ten miles southwest of Wise River, MT	4,822	22%
Elkhorn Ridge - MTBRF	Montana	West Fork District	2,482	0%
Marsh Creek - MTHLF	Montana	12 Miles Southeast of Lincoln, MT	88	0%
Big Hollow Fire - MTMTS	Montana	36 miles southwest of Dillon, MT	3,435	90%
Whisky Creek Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	East fork of Herman Creek, 6 miles SE of Cascade Locks, OR	2,105	25%
Two Cabin - OR95S	Oregon	4 Miles NE of Monument Oregon	251	3%
Shoe Fly Fire - OR95S	Oregon	6 Miles NE of Mitchell, Oregon	21,623	5%
North Willamette Complex - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette National Forest	4,615	NA
Diamond Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	18 miles southwest of Chemult, Oregon	11,141	81%
Red Fire - ORDEF	Oregon	Diamond Peak Wilderness, 16 miles west, north-west of Crescent Oregon.	877	0%
Middle Fork Fire - ORCLP	Oregon	Crater Lake National Park; Middle Fork area	5,286	58%
Homestead Complex - ORUPF	Oregon	Thirty miles northeast of Glide Oregon	5,918	60%
Copperfield Fire - OR98S	Oregon	10 miles east of Chiloquin, Oregon	3,802	26%
Rail Ridge - OROCF	Oregon	Approx. 7 miles south of Dayville, OR	61,433	0%
Willamette Complex Fires - South - ORWIF	Oregon	Willamette Complex South fires are 8 miles north and 8 to 22 miles S-SE of Oakridge.	13,644	64%
Sandstone Fire - ORMHF	Oregon	9 miles SW of Ripplebrook, OR, on the Mt. Hood National Forest	702	75%
Cottage Grove - Lane 1 - OR77S	Oregon	Approximately 16 miles SE of Springfield, OR	25,305	97%
Wiley Flat - OROCF	Oregon	10 miles southeast of post, Oregon	14,000	0%
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	12,418	31%
Pincer Two Fire - WAMSF	Washington	Johannesburg Mountain. 1 Mile East of Mineral Park Campground	211	0%
Pioneer - WASES	Washington	Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA	38,735	23%

Source: Inciweb

Tags: Smoke Forecast 2024