Some areas in northwest Montana are seeing heavy concentrations of smoke generated by the local fires that have been burning for several weeks. When the AirNow map above was generated the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Seeley Lake was 433, well into the “Hazardous” category which ranges from 301 to 500. If it exceeds 500 that will be off the scale.

Almost all of the western two-thirds of Montana are at least in the Moderate AQI level and many areas range from Unsafe for Sensitive Groups, to Unhealthy, to Very Unhealthy.

Some locations in Oregon and Northern California are also experiencing air quality and smoke issues.