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Air Monitoring Particulate Data
2006 Forest Fire Air Quality Updates
August 27, 2006
10:00 AM
Current Situation
There is only one plume of smoke from Washington visible on this morning’s satellite photo drifting into western Montana this morning. The smoke is aloft and not causing any problems right now. There was very little activity in our region yesterday but the fires to the west had an active day and that smoke is starting to head our way as a ridge builds in and the winds shift to the northwest and west. See the forecast below for details. The Ulm Peak fire south of Noxon was pretty active for a while yesterday and smoke impacts in that area are still likely at this time. Other local impacts southeast of the Derby fire south of Big Timber are also likely. Residents in those areas are advised to 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
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 27, 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 winds over Montana this morning are from the northwest to the west. This will shift to the west and southwest by tomorrow. These wind directions will bring smoke from the fires in Washington, Oregon and Idaho into Montana by this afternoon and through tomorrow. Dispersion will be limited today and this should keep most of the smoke aloft off the surface except for a few hours in the afternoon. Temperatures will be rising into the 90s and humidity readings will be back into the teens, this will wake up the fires in Montana and as fire activity levels increase, more local smoke impacts are likely. Residents near active fires are cautioned to pay attention to their situation and use the visibility guidelines to guide their activity decisions as the situation changes.
John Coefield
Meteorologist
MDEQ
