This morning when I went out to my car, it was covered with a dusting of ash and bits of blackened debris. The sun today is a dark orange sphere, feebly shining through the thick gray atmosphere. Fire season is in full swing once again...
We have two major fires burning within twenty or so minutes of Missoula, and apparently the entire state of Idaho is on fire. Below is a satellite photo of the Idaho and Western Montana fires, from earthobservatory.nasa.gov.
We have two major fires burning within twenty or so minutes of Missoula, and apparently the entire state of Idaho is on fire. Below is a satellite photo of the Idaho and Western Montana fires, from earthobservatory.nasa.gov.
(Here is a link to the original photo.)As you can see, the smoke from Idaho is blowing directly over our area. With the inversion factor that happens in our little valley, the smoke gets trapped in and just stays. Ick.
Everybody seems a bit cross these days, and who can blame them? It’s hard to keep cheery when there’s no sunshine. For me, it doesn’t help that I haven’t been able to go running - I worry about breathing the dirty air for very long.
Here's hoping for some rain.
If you're interested, here are some Montana fire-related links:
Montana air quality (as of 1:00 today, ours was considered 'unhealthy'.)
Inciweb fire tracker for Montana
2 comments:
That's so gross...
For nearly every August/September I spent in Missoula, I employed the use of an inhaler. Silly valley inversions...
Ooh I remember . Ick, I felt awful for a couple of days that year you moved there. Do they know what started these fires yet? It's hard to be too annoyed if it's nature, but if it's an idiot capmer or something. grrr.
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