MISSOULA - Wildfire smoke is continuing to linger in the Missoula area.
Conditions were Moderate in Missoula County early Tuesday afternoon but may become Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups later in the day.
Missoula City-County Health Department Air Quality Specialist Sarah Coefield notes Missoula is downwind of the fires burning in Idaho and Oregon.
Additionally, the Trail Ridge Fire and Mill Lake Fire sent smoke into the Bitterroot Valley overnight, and conditions are Unhealthy in Hamilton.
Coefield says that the air quality generally improves as you move north up the Bitterroot, but there is the potential for the smoke to flow toward Missoula under the inversion layer.
The fires burning southwest of Missoula will likely perk up in the late afternoon with Coefield adding that models are showing smoke from Idaho and Oregon will head our way and will impact the area overnight and into Wednesday morning.
The latest air quality conditions from across Montana can be found at https://svc.mt.gov/deq/todaysair/.
