Smoke Condition Reports

[Wanderlust073]

Thought it might be useful to dump point in time ‘reports’ here for people looking for near-term destination info.

Useful sites:

Where are the fires? https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/

Where is the smoke? https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/

 

[Wanderlust073]

Front range CO weekend of 8/7. We are hosed. Worst air quality in the world and Monday is supposed to see another plume carried in. Surface visibility is 3-5 miles and you immediately feel it in your throat/chest/eyes when you go outside.

Sun rising over the horizon this morning:



Shot facing west to the invisible mountains:

 

[Jackson]

Awesome resources!

https://fire.airnow.gov and https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov are great for visualizations also.

 

[Jackson]

I've seen lots of jokes online like this:

Great hike today. Check out these views!

 

[Hiker Seth]

Heading out to the Winds next week and I'm quickly losing hope of a low smoke trip.

 

[balzaccom]

We're just back from three weeks in Yellowstone, the Tetons, Rocky Mountain NP, etc....drove through Salt Lake City on Friday when it had the worse air quality in the world, with visibility about one mile due to smoke. This stuff changes with the wind, but we were in miserable smoke from Prove to Sacramento...

Not a good drive.

 

[Bob]

Fire.airnow.gov
Nifc.nwcg.gov. Go to situation report

 

[Jackson]

Heading out to the Winds next week and I'm quickly losing hope of a low smoke trip.

If you're going to be out for more than a couple nights, you'll probably at least get a day or two with tolerable smoke and decent visibility. It's been coming and going for the past month pretty much everywhere, and at least up in SW Montana, we get a couple decent days every week, it seems. Never smoke free but decent visibility and air quality.

Especially up on the trails where the peaks are super close, you should still have some good views on some of the days. I think you'll still have a great time.

 

[SteveR]

Smoke has been plaguing our outdoor adventures in Alberta as well. We've had a couple of truly awful days, and a few blue sky days in the last 6 weeks, but mostly the smoke has been moderate and highly variable. I've been using the https://firesmoke.ca forecast which also shows south of the border, but find that it is hit and miss in terms of accuracy.

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

Fire.airnow.gov
Nifc.nwcg.gov. Go to situation report

@Bob is it strange that they are doing prescribed fires during such a horrible fire season with all this smoke?

 

[andyjaggy]

Southwest Colorado was really nice last week. Unfortunately we woke up Saturday morning to some seriously bad smoke and decided to bail. If you want perfectly clear skies every day of a trip, you might need to write this year off.

 

[Rockskipper]

A little better in Driggs today, but still very hazy. Can now see the outline of the Tetons.

 

[Ugly]

Air quality is terrible.
Salt Flats yesterday and some guy snowboarding behind a truck. This was in the morning when it was a little clearer.

 

[travel2walk]

Alright, a friend wanted to go on a last minute trip. We are flying into bozeman in a couple of days for a week. Plenty of options for a 5 to 6 day hike. I have a couple of ideas of hikes in Yellowstone, Winds, maybe glacier from the smoke maps, etc and been checking those websites. But just wanted to get a check with y'all that's on the ground there @Jackson @Bob. Also if you have an recommendations of specific routes/hikes that better against the smoke. Thanks!

 

[OldBill]

Heading out to the Winds next week and I'm quickly losing hope of a low smoke trip.

I know the feeling! Leaving for my trip there on the 28th. Hopefully there will be at least a few days of clear(er) skies. Have a great trip! Look forward to the report.

 

[Jackson]

Alright, a friend wanted to go on a last minute trip. We are flying into bozeman in a couple of days for a week. Plenty of options for a 5 to 6 day hike. I have a couple of ideas of hikes in Yellowstone, Winds, maybe glacier from the smoke maps, etc and been checking those websites. But just wanted to get a check with y'all that's on the ground there @Jackson @Bob. Also if you have an recommendations of specific routes/hikes that better against the smoke. Thanks!

It's actually been remarkably clear for the past two days. No telling if/when the winds will shift and bring the smoke back north. Could happen this afternoom for all I know. But for now, it's the nicest it's been since early July or late June. We've got some good cooler weather coming up next week too. With 5-6 days and no permits reserved, I'd probably go somewhere like the Teton Wilderness or the Bob.

 

[OldBill]

Some great links above. Seems most are current conditions and not forecasts (may be too difficult). One hopeful sign in the 6-10 day is cooler temps and better chance of rain.
6-10day outlook, Climate Prediction Center

 

[travel2walk]

It's actually been remarkably clear for the past two days. No telling if/when the winds will shift and bring the smoke back north. Could happen this afternoom for all I know. But for now, it's the nicest it's been since early July or late June. We've got some good cooler weather coming up next week too. With 5-6 days and no permits reserved, I'd probably go somewhere like the Teton Wilderness or the Bob.

Thanks for the update! Good to hear it's better. I think we might try for a walkup in glacier and then go to the Bob when we if we can't find anything. The winds are always appealing though. The final decision might come when we turn out of the Bozeman airport. Lol

 

[SteveR]

Just north of Glacier in Alberta, we've had smoke free skies and cooler temps for the last few days, thanks to a shift in the jet stream, now coming down from the north. This looks to be changing to a more westerly flow by the weekend, which will likely bring back the smoke.

 

[WasatchWill]

Smoke has been plaguing our outdoor adventures in Alberta as well. We've had a couple of truly awful days, and a few blue sky days in the last 6 weeks, but mostly the smoke has been moderate and highly variable. I've been using the https://firesmoke.ca forecast which also shows south of the border, but find that it is hit and miss in terms of accuracy.View attachment 100637View attachment 100638View attachment 100639

I usually hate what smoke does to views, not to mention lungs and what not, but it does make for some interesting photos in certain settings and yours are no exception.