A lot of folks like to get outside and enjoy the fresh air during Labor Day Weekend, but that will not be the case this year. Kristen Martin is an Air Quality Meteorologist at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and she says smoke is filling the valley.

“Unfortunately over the weekend we have another ridge building in and so we will likely see smoke impacts in the valleys once again, kind of building up again over time,” said Martin. “You might see some improvement towards the end of the weekend and on Monday. Again, real brief improvements before more of those stable conditions move in. I don’t expect really great air quality in the Missoula area.”

According to Martin, there are some places in Montana that are doing better than others when it comes to air quality.

“Northwest Montana was doing better, but we do have a number of new fire starts that may make that area just as smoky in the coming days, we will have to wait and see,” Martin said. “I would say south is doing a bit better. The Yellowstone area has had better air quality without being directly downwind of these fires.”

Martin says some cold fronts will help clear out some of the smoke in the valley, but she doesn’t expect significant improvements anytime soon.

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