Spare the air alert

Smoke from wildfires has prompted the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to issue an air quality alert for counties in the southwest part of the state, including Missoula.

Air quality in Great Falls was listed as unhealthy for sensitive groups on Saturday, but it didn’t keep some people from getting out and trying to enjoy what should have been a nice summer day.

The alert says “active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease should avoid prolong outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children should limit outdoor exertion”.

However, we are also under a Red Flag Warning for those same storms, so there may be some new fire starts and there is also the very real risk of increased fire activity due to the strong winds.

The smoke, said Lance Vandenboogart, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Missoula, is mostly coming from huge fires burning in Washington and Idaho.

Air quality in Missoula, Frenchtown, and Butte is now UNHEALTHY.

Air quality in Seeley Lake is MODERATE.

Vehicle exhaust combined with a high-pressure system bringing clear skies, inland temperatures over 100 degrees, light morning winds and a week afternoon sea breeze, are expected to create unhealthy levels of air pollution Sunday.

Air quality in Helena is now being reported as GOOD but thick haze is present across the Helena Valley and concentrations are anticipated to be UNHEALTHY above the valley floor.