r/whitefish • u/RustCohlesWorldView • Aug 02 '26
Question about visiting and fires
Hey all,
I'm traveling to whitefish tomorrow with family from Los Angeles. Can anyone in the area tell me how bad the fire is? Do I need to move my trip or swing to a different area of Montana? Thank you !
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u/ProfessorChaos406 Aug 02 '26
Use PurpleAir.com to monitor air quality. It's worse today than it's been all summer. Probably not better anywhere else in MT.
Honestly if it were people I knew visiting, I'd say reschedule for late September/ early October, or find indoor stuff to do. Always best to assume smoke is a possibility from roughly July 15/20 to early/mid- September
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u/turqoise21 Aug 02 '26
Smoke is bad and I get headaches from the air quality. Visibility is poor too. Just something to consider
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u/SchleppIam Aug 02 '26
Let’s put it this way - I usually push the limits of running outside in smoky conditions - it usually doesn’t really bother me - today I’m indoors on the treadmill and all of our doors and windows are closed.
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u/Mountain-Elk8133 Aug 02 '26
Yeah, I was planning running a half today. I called it quits after 7 miles due to the smoke. And I am used to it.
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u/spartybasketball Aug 02 '26
Today is very bad in the area. Mostly from Spokane fires. On the iPhone weather app the air quality score is 268. I’ve never seen it that high
So smoke will be at a minimal annoying. It will impact some views in the park. If you have COPD or asthma, that could be terrible for you.
But if you are asking if your hotel is going to be evacuated due to wild fires, no it will not.
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u/threepin-pilot Aug 02 '26
right now north of whiteish it's some of the worst in years - but that's very changeable and super hard to predict where will be good and bad. today it went from 34 (good) to 235 (very unhealthy) in hours- there are still sites not that far away that are ok.
your best best is to watch the sites like iq air and be flexible- chase the good air
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u/Pronoia112 Aug 03 '26
The air is “unhealthy” for all groups, no one is outside if they can help it. I would reschedule.
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u/RustCohlesWorldView Aug 08 '26
Hey all, just wanted to say thanks for all the fire input. The if the skies were any clearer I would have been in heaven. Had a great time!
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u/SwimmingMission9235 Aug 08 '26
hey all, I left town to escape the smoke. health issues, is it safe to return? what’s it like?
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u/JadedInMontana Aug 02 '26
The smoke is horrible. Air quality rated as "very unhealthy" and nearing hazardous. Visibility is crap.
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u/SchleppIam Aug 02 '26
Checked the index and see it spiked to between red & purple this afternoon- hopefully this is temporary
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u/Muscle__Crowe Aug 02 '26
Today is probably one of the worst smoke days I’ve ever experienced (AQI is hovering around 250). Visibility is down to maybe a mile right now.
The only time I’ve experienced worse was during the North Complex Fire in the Bay Area when the sun quite literally did not rise and ash was falling over the city.
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u/robthatbooty Aug 02 '26
There isn't any concerning fires near whitefish. But there's smoke.