Wildfire Smoke Update
for
Friday, August 3, 2012 10:45 AM

Satellite Photos | Locations and Smoke Conditions

Today's Report and Forecast	Today's Summary
Air quality is GOOD again this morning after wind and rain brought good dispersion overnight. Clouds across eastern Montana this morning are making it impossible to see any smoke from satellite images, but available particulate monitors and webcams show GOOD air and clear visibility. With the rain that swept across most of the state last night and this morning, higher relative humidity, and much cooler temperatures today, fires won’t see conditions favorable for their ignition and growth. Air quality should remain GOOD for just about all of the state today. This wonderful, fall-like weather won’t last very long, as another ridge of high pressure builds into the region on Saturday, bringing temperatures back into the 80s and 90s. Relative humidities will drop again and we will have another daily chance of late afternoon thunderstorms after Monday. Winds over the weekend won’t be terribly breezy, except for some afternoon gusts. By Tuesday afternoon, sustained winds could be stronger throughout the day. Overall for the next week, the weather will be like we have seen for the last several weeks.	Air quality is GOOD this morning thanks to the weather system that went through last night. With much higher relative humidity, lower temperatures, and a recent dose of rain, air quality should stay GOOD today as fires will be more suppressed by Mother Nature. This nice break in the weather is short-lived, as the hot and dry weather returns tomorrow, and will last into the foreseeable future.
Residents near active fires and under plumes aloft need to remain aware of current conditions and use the visibility guidelines to guide their activity decisions as the situation changes.
Air Quality Bureau Montana Department of Environmental Quality Phone: (406) 444-3490 Email: DEQMTSmoke@mt.gov

This is the visible satellite image from 10:00 this morning, showing the large band of clouds across eastern Montana in association with the low pressure system and cold front that are moving east. 




 





This morning’s analysis from NOAA’s satellite services division shows the active fires in Montana and the smoke plumes combining and spreading downwind (the analyzed smoke is based on yesterday’s satellite coverage, the fire detects are based on last nights satellite coverage).


Red indicates hot spot detected. Green represents thin smoke, yellow is moderate smoke, and pink is dense smoke. Fire size is exaggerated for visibility at this scale. To identify individual fires on graphic above go here: http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php 

Real time particulate information is currently available in most of the larger urban areas from MTDEQ's Today's Air website.

Local impacts in areas immediately adjacent to active fires are expected to exceed some or all of the advisory levels.  DEQ recommends the use of local visibility guidelines to evaluate possible health risks and make informed activity decisions.