July 31, 2026: Wildfire Smoke Air Quality Update
Posted on July 31, 2026
The current air quality across Missoula County ranges from Moderate, with a couple of sensors reading Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. See current air quality conditions at Fire.AirNow.Gov.
A southwesterly flow continues to transport smoke from Oregon towards Missoula County and western Montana. The strength of those winds and the intensity of the fires in Oregon have lessened but as you can see in the satellite imagery, there’s still a lot of smoke that can head our way. Winds remain relatively calm through today but come Saturday afternoon and into Sunday, expect stronger gusts of wind. And thankfully with that and a cold front, some slightly cooler temperatures. Southwesterly transport winds will continue to move smoke towards western Montana until Sunday when we’ll experience a westerly transport wind. This is likely to carry smoke from fires in central Washington towards western Montana. Check out regional fire information at Inciweb.wildfire.gov.
GOES West satellite imagery
The nearby Elder 1 Fire has grown to 1034 acres and is 14% contained. Also, fire danger in Missoula County has moved to Very High due to dry conditions, high winds, and consistent hot temperatures. When fire danger is Very High fires can readily spread in open, dry grasslands and can burn in heavy timber and dead and downed trees, especially on windy days. If you have a campfire this weekend, be sure to keep it small and completely extinguish it before leaving – Smokey Bear says cold to the touch! Let’s all do our part in preventing wildfires so fire resources can continue to assist with these natural lighting starts. Shoutout to our local and visiting firefighters for their incredible work!
Widening our local circle a bit, just north of us the Skillet Fire west of Whitefish and the Silvertip Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness are growing in size. There are a few other small fires around Montana. MTFireInfo.org is a great resource for new fire starts and updates on current fires. For further weekend planning, be sure to read through the state smoke forecast put out by Montana DEQ.
When traveling or sticking around town this weekend, be good to yourself and take steps to reduce your smoke exposure. Even when air quality is Moderate, we are still being exposed to air pollution that has long-term health effects. When driving around, roll your windows up and run the air on recirculate. Keep an N95 mask around and if you’re doing an outdoor activity that is not very strenuous, like reading a book outside or mowing the lawn, don a mask to reduce your smoke exposure. Continue to run your portable air cleaner with a HEPA filter or a MERV 13+ furnace filter attached to a box fan. And since it’s smoke season and conditions can change pretty quickly, keep Fire.AirNow.Gov handy on your phone or computer.
Get plenty of rest and hydrate up since we know smoke causes inflammatory responses in our body and weakens our immune system. You know that’s usually what Mushu, your local air quali-kitty, does most days…