2013 DEQ Pre-Wildfire Season Stakeholder Meeting

1. 2013 DEQ Pre-Wildfire Season Stakeholder Meeting Lacey Evans State Air Quality Meteorologist Montana Department of Environmental Quality (406) 444-0283 LEvans3@mt.gov

2. Today we will cover… • Information and services that DEQ provides during summer wildfire season • How to access and use this information At the end of the presentation, we will open up for discussion, questions, and suggestions.

3. 5:30 AM • Look outside • Check Today’s Air

4. Today’s Air http://todaysair.mt.gov/

5. 7:30 AM • Read through most recent updates to fire activity since yesterday afternoon • Identify smoky areas across the state and their source • Prepare forecast • Next 12-24 hours

6. www.inciweb.org

7. Satellite Images

8. NOAA Satellite Services http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

9. Webcams

10. 8:30-9:30 AM: Wildfire Smoke Update • Most recent: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/smokereport/mostRecentUpdate.aspx • Archives: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/smokereport/smokeList.aspx • Today’s Air: http://todaysair.mt.gov/ Example: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/smokereport/mostRecentUpdate.aspx?smokeID=570

11. Categorizing Smoke Levels • Today’s Air near real-time PM2.5 monitoring • Health Effects Categories • http://www.deq.mt.gov/FireUpdates/SmokeCategories.mcpx • Note that these are for 24-hour averages

12. Visibility Guidelines http://www.deq.mt.gov/FireUpdates/VisibilityRanges.mcpx

13. http://www.deq.mt.gov/FireUpdates/visibility.mcpx

14. Describing Smoke and Air Quality • “Smoke will/may/should affect air quality” • “Air quality is poor/good” • “Smoke is impacting the area”

15. Naming Conventions • City names on Today’s Air: • Helena, Hamilton, Libby, Frenchtown, Missoula, Seeley Lake, Butte, Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Great Falls, Billings, Sidney, Flathead Valley (Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish) • City names not on Today’s Air: • “Larger” towns in unmonitored valleys (Dillon, Wisdom, Ennis, Livingston, Anaconda/Deer Lodge, Philipsburg, White SulphurSprings, etc.) • Valley Names: • Bitterroot, Mission, Swan, Paradise, Big Hole, Missoula, Helena, Flathead, Ovando, etc.

16. Naming Conventions • By geographical direction: • Southwestern Montana, west of the Continental Divide, off the Rocky Mountain Front, far northeastern Montana, etc. • By county: • Beaverhead/Madison Counties, Meagher, Granite/Deer Lodge, Silver Bow, etc.

17. 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM • Keep an eye on: • Weather conditions • Today’s Air • Satellite images • Webcams • Wait for latest updates for: • InciWeb/other • Forecast models • Other: • Answer phone calls • Respond to media requests

18. 3:00 – 4:00 PM • Second Wildfire Smoke Update • Report on wildfire and smoke activity throughout the day • Update and expand forecast to include an outlook for the next few days Example: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/smokereport/mostRecentUpdate.aspx?smokeID=571

19. 4:00 – 10:00 PM • Keep monitoring smoke and air quality from home (Today’s Air, satellite, visibility ranges) • Watch for any new or sudden fire activity during the hottest and driest part of the day • Make note of smoke paths to check webcams in the morning

20. Weekends • One Wildfire Smoke Update per day • Check fire and air quality conditions throughout the weekend KXLH

21. Challenges • Quantifying smoke impacts as they fluctuate throughout the day • Reporting hourly health effects categories vs. long-term exposure (24-hour average) • Forecasting smoke impacts in places that I cannot verify • Unreported wildfires

22. Recap • http://todaysair.mt.gov/ • Wildfire Smoke Updates (most recent and archives) • Both: • Visibility Guidelines • Recommendations for Outdoor Sporting Events • Explanation of Health Effects Categories

23. Now I need your help • How can we all work together better? • Information sharing, naming conventions, categorizing smoke impacts • Daily emails? • Other social networking avenues coming soon

24. Lacey Evans LEvans3@mt.gov 406-444-0283 This PowerPoint will be posted at: http://www.deq.mt.gov/AirQuality/AQinfo.mcpx