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Air Monitoring Particulate Data
2006 Forest Fire Air Quality Updates
August 19, 2006
10:00 AM
Current Situation
Smoke pushed into western Montana from Washington yesterday and last night and is very visible on this morning’s satellite photo. The smoke layer is also readily visible on some web cams partially obscuring the horizon with this morning’s low sun angle. Surface smoke levels are not a problem at this time and we have no reports of poor air quality today. There is a huge band of smoke over Washington again this morning that is visible on the lower satellite photo centered on Spokane. This will bear watching but is not expected to be much of a problem today. See the forecast below for details. There is still some smoke visible in the Bitterroot valley near the Gash Creek fire and other local impacts are likely. Residents near a fire should pay attention to current conditions and use the VISIBILITY GUIDELINES to determine smoke levels in their area and guide their activity decisions.
Morning satellite photo centered on Great Falls
Morning satellite photo centered on Spokane
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. Grey represents smoke seen by satellite. 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 several different sources including: DEQ run PM-10 BAMS and PM2.5 BAMS, NWS ASOS visibility monitors, and USFS remote access Nephelometers and BAMS.
This morning’s smoke report is below, comparing particulate levels where we have information to MDEQ’s Forest Fire health advisory levels. Smoke Categories
Updated 10:00 AM August 19, 2006
Locations and severity of forest fire smoke reports since midnight of the date above at reporting stations.
| Smoke Conditions | City |
|---|---|
| Hazardous | |
| Very Unhealthy | |
| Unhealthy | |
| Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | |
| Moderate | |
| Good |
|
T1(x) |
One-hour TEOM value (number of values) |
| T8(x) | Eight-hour average TEOM value(number of values) |
| T24 | 24 hour average TEOM value |
| Vis(x) | Visibility value(number of hours) |
| Vis(am/pm) | Visibility value from twice/day reporting stations |
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.
Forecast
Transport flow will be light and westerly today as a strong ridge continues to build into the state. Dispersion will be limited under the ridge and some of the valleys in western Montana will not mix out until very late in the day if at all. This will tend to keep the smoke aloft above the surface and with the exception of a very few areas with some active fires today, smoke impacts should not be a problem. Temperatures will continue to rise over the next few days and we will be getting more smoke both locally and from Washington and Idaho this weekend. The big smoke plume in Washington from the Tripod fire will be looping up into Canada before coming into the state most of today. Later this weekend we will start getting that smoke directly. New starts from holdover lightening strikes could fire up today and tomorrow and with the poor dispersion they could cause local problems. Residents near active fires should stay aware of their situation and use the visibility guidelines to guide their activity decisions as the situation changes.
John Coefield
Meteorologist
MDEQ
