Wind pushing Canadian wildfire smoke through Montana

Wildfires in the northern territory of Canada in Alberta and central Saskatchewan, and even Alaska, are pushing smoke into our region, according to the National Weather Service.

"It is residing in the Upper Midwest Ohio Valley, far south as northern Florida and as far east as the Carolina coastline. It's a pretty broad range of air that's affected by smoke," meteorologist Jim Brusda said.

The numerous fires occurring right now in northern Alberta and central Saskatchewan is due to the long days of the summer.

"They can have 20 hours of sunlight there, and with that constant temperature fires can stay active longer," Brusda said.

An east wind is blowing that smoke in westward direction to the Rocky Mountain front. Right now, the smoke is mostly prevalent in Havre, Harlem, Malta, Glasgow and Sidney. Visibility is as low about a mile in Havre area and half a mile in Harlem area, Brusda said.

"When visibility gets that low and we get an east or northeast wind, it blows that smoke down to Great Falls. Our visibility in Great Falls was actually lowered to four miles. The low visibility around here has been limited and has not been lasting that long."

Great Falls can still expect to have smoke in the area at least through Friday morning when the wind is expected to shift to southwest.

"Of course, this is all dependent on not having new fire starts in our area. There was a fire in Browning in agricultural land, but that has not really contributed to this smoke," Brusda said. "We want to advise people that we will have slightly cooler temps with highs in 80s, but continue to be cautious. You don't want to have any hot sources that can spark a fire. There were fires on Monday and Tuesday because of farm equipment getting very hot working with dry grasses. Of course fireworks are still legal, that's always a concern. Be very cautious in these dry conditions."

On Friday, the wind will switch around to west at 10 to 20 mph.

"That shift and speed should be enough to push the smoke farther east away from us," Brusda said. "Until that happens, we still have some potential for smoke around here."

Vince Kolar, the emergency manager for Cascade County would like to advise people with breathing conditions to stay inside until the smoke passes.