Smoke from distant fires clouds Flathead skies

Smoke that has poured into the Flathead Valley for several days is coming from a combination of fires in the Idaho Panhandle and west-central Montana, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s really tough to know exactly where the smoke is coming from,” said meteorologist Dave Noble. “It’s a combination of all the fires from Idaho and Western Montana ... “We definitely started to notice it here in Missoula over the weekend.”

Noble said winds have shifted in recent days to southerly flows, carrying the smoke farther north and into the Flathead Valley.

The closest major fire, the West Garceau Fire west of Polson, is 100 percent contained and is in the mop-up stage, so it is not contributing much smoke to the air.

Similarly, the Condon Mountain Fire in the Swan Valley has not been very active in recent days.

Two fires continue to burn actively in Western Montana: the 560-acre Elevation Mountain Fire in the Elk Creek area of the Garnet Mountains and the 142-acre Felan Gulch Fire in the Bearmouth area east of Missoula near Interstate 90.  

Three massive fire complexes in Idaho each have burned more than 100,000 acres.

Air quality in the Flathead Valley on Monday morning was listed as moderate by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, while the air quality was rated as “unhealthy” in Great Falls, Missoula, Seeley Lake and Hamilton.