Smoky skies may return to Flathead

Despite the decline in Northwest Montana’s wildfire activity in the past few weeks, the Flathead Valley could be in for smoky conditions today as fire activity further west appeared to pick up Monday.

Smoke levels in Libby prompted state air quality officials to issue an “unhealthy for sensitive groups” alert for the area on Monday, while Thompson Falls’ air quality dipped to “unhealthy.”

Brandon McGuire, a data acquisition coordinator for the Montana Division of Environmental Quality, said it the same smoke plumes could drift further east into the Flathead Valley as well.

“It’s hard to say for sure, but it seems like it could,” he said. “The winds are supposed to be pretty light, so there might not be much spreading out, or dispersion of the smoke.”

In a release, the agency stated that a high pressure system is expected to remain in the area throughout the day today, and could help to intensify valley inversions throughout Western Montana until a moist, low pressure system moves in on Thursday.