BOZEMAN – Thick wildfire smoke is the greatest weather hazard for SW Montana this week. As the weather pattern returns to a blocking ridge producing warmer and drier than normal, conditions area wildfires are back burning more aggressively and producing more smoke.
Some of this smoke comes from wildfires in western Montana but the brunt of the smoke is from larger fires in central Idaho.
A west to SW flow aloft is paving the way for the smoke to drift over most of SW Montana.
An AIR QUALITY ALERT is up for most of SW Montana until further notice. This means that particulates have been trending upwards and that an exceedance of the 24 hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard has occurred or will in the near future.
Those that are especially sensitive to the smoke should limit outdoor exposure as much as possible until conditions improve.
