A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Note to readers. Flathead Memo will be on a posting-lite status for the next few days as I tend to exigent matters and perform some under-the-hood maintenance on the website.
It’s seriously smokey in the Flathead, eye-wateringly smokey, unhealthily smokey. As of 0800 MDT this morning, the one-hour count for respirable particulates (≤ 2.5 microns in diameter) was 99 µg/m^3, the 24-hour average was 116 µg/m^3, and visibility was only two to three miles. The 24-hour average falls into the Very Unhealthy category according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. And we’re not the only area in Montana where visibility is low and particulates are high. St. Mary, Frenchtown, Missoula, and Hamilton, also have Very Unhealthy air.
Below, I’ve plotted the one and 24-hour averages for the Flathead for 1–24 August. The DEQ posts daily time series plots for the Flathead, but it does not seem to post monthly graphs. Later today, I’ll try to post a spreadsheet with the data used for the graph, and daily box plots for August.
