The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality alert for Lewis and Clark County and sixteen other Montana counties Friday, with the warning running through 9 a.m. Saturday, August 9. The National Weather Service office in Great Falls issued the alert at 8:02 a.m. Friday.
The alert covers a wide swath of western and central Montana, including Beaverhead, Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Gallatin, Granite, Jefferson, Lake, Lincoln, Madison, Mineral, Park, Silver Bow, Missoula, Ravalli, and Sanders counties alongside Lewis and Clark. DEQ issues these alerts when particulate levels are trending upward and an exceedance of federal health standards is expected or occurring — in most cases during fire season, that means smoke.
Residents with respiratory conditions, the elderly, and children are typically advised to limit outdoor activity during air quality alerts. People can check current conditions at the DEQ air quality monitoring page or through the AirNow app. With multiple active fires burning in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest this week, forecasters are watching smoke dispersion closely as conditions change day to day.