Smoke Is Bad (Ketchum, Cascade, Stanley: appointed, house, camper)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Terryj

We just finished our motorcycle ride through Yellowstone, Glacier National Park and through Idaho, this was a trip that was on my bucket list. Didn't run into to much smoke, there was a bit in Columbus, MT due to a fire just southwest of town, but other than that it was okay. Our trip through Idaho was awesome, the best part (IMO) was Northern Idaho what a beautiful part of the world.
The worst smoke we hit was in Oregon, from La Pine south to 138 wasn't really bad but when we hit the Cascade Range it was thick smoke all the way into Medford, Ore. I'm so tired of the smoke every summer for the last five years here in the Rogue Valley, my wife is ready to move. Maybe to Idaho !!!!!

I would suggest east of the Mississippi River, far fewer problems with wildfires and droughts every single year.

[banjomike]

I just learned from a local weatherman that all the smoke down here in Idaho Falls actually rose so high in the atmosphere that the particles in the smoke seeded the clouds and made it rain much heavier than was predicted.

We got over 1 3/4" of rain over this past week. Up in the mountains, 3" fell.

That's enough moisture to allow all the irrigators to turn their pumps off early. It's enough to allow farmers to begin planting winter wheat in September, a perfect month for planting it.
Winter wheat is planted in the fall. It begins growing as soon as it's planted, and forms a root bundle called a stool. The stool shoots up some leaves and stalks. The first frost kills the stalks, but the stool survives and goes into hibernation for the winter.
Then in the spring, the stool really hits the growth and sends up the stalks that will fully develop into seed heads. Those seeds are the ripe wheat that makes our daily bread.

If the ground in the fall is dried out and parched, the stools can't form, so the plant dies over the winter. Hard red winter wheat is one of the highest protein plants humans have for food. There are other kinds of spring wheat that are planted in the spring, but they are all lower in protein, and are used for pastries and other stuff. The hard red is used for bread and all-purpose flour that goes into everything made with wheat.

There's more money in the winter wheat, too. With such a hot dry summer, this rain is a real blessing, as farmers now have a good fall-back crop they can plant with little risk of failure next year.

In a drought, it's always the next year that counts. A farmer can get credit for one year, but if the crop fails like it has this year, the second year has to bail them out.

Washing the smoke out of the air was a good thing, but all this rain was a real bonus for us. I just wish it hadn't come at such a terrible cost to our neighbors to the south and west of us. I hope California and Oregon got some rain of their own out of this meager low front too. The entire west really needs a long drink of cool fresh water right now.

[dcisive]

I understand in Twin Falls they got a nice downpour as well. I'm 30 miles west of there and it barely sprinkled. Personally I look forward to when this smoke is history.

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I would suggest east of the Mississippi River, far fewer problems with wildfires and droughts every single year.

I’m a former New Englander (along with my husband) and I will admit to thinking longingly about the coast of Maine this summer.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

I’m a former New Englander (along with my husband) and I will admit to thinking longingly about the coast of Maine this summer.

I used to live in New Hampshire, (moved for job reasons). I miss the great access to the coast, mountains, and lakes in a relatively short distance. Perhaps moving again down the road as the WFH at my job becomes a permanent option.

[snowave]

Originally Posted by banjomike

I just learned from a local weatherman that all the smoke down here in Idaho Falls actually rose so high in the atmosphere that the particles in the smoke seeded the clouds and made it rain much heavier than was predicted.

We got over 1 3/4" of rain over this past week. Up in the mountains, 3" fell.

That's enough moisture to allow all the irrigators to turn their pumps off early. It's enough to allow farmers to begin planting winter wheat in September, a perfect month for planting it.
Winter wheat is planted in the fall. It begins growing as soon as it's planted, and forms a root bundle called a stool. The stool shoots up some leaves and stalks. The first frost kills the stalks, but the stool survives and goes into hibernation for the winter.
Then in the spring, the stool really hits the growth and sends up the stalks that will fully develop into seed heads. Those seeds are the ripe wheat that makes our daily bread.

If the ground in the fall is dried out and parched, the stools can't form, so the plant dies over the winter. Hard red winter wheat is one of the highest protein plants humans have for food. There are other kinds of spring wheat that are planted in the spring, but they are all lower in protein, and are used for pastries and other stuff. The hard red is used for bread and all-purpose flour that goes into everything made with wheat.

There's more money in the winter wheat, too. With such a hot dry summer, this rain is a real blessing, as farmers now have a good fall-back crop they can plant with little risk of failure next year.

In a drought, it's always the next year that counts. A farmer can get credit for one year, but if the crop fails like it has this year, the second year has to bail them out.

Washing the smoke out of the air was a good thing, but all this rain was a real bonus for us. I just wish it hadn't come at such a terrible cost to our neighbors to the south and west of us. I hope California and Oregon got some rain of their own out of this meager low front too. The entire west really needs a long drink of cool fresh water right now.

There's still debate about how smoke affects rain. New studies have shown that it can actually decrease the amount of rainfall/cloud development overall... but there are also evidence that says when it does rain, and there is smoke in the atmosphere, it can enhance rainfall.

Either way, glad you got so much rain this past week. Over here in Western ID, we only got about 1/4-1/2". Better than nothing, but I was watching you guys get hammered on radar several time... quite envious. At least it's been much cooler over here the last week or so!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by snowave

There's still debate about how smoke affects rain. New studies have shown that it can actually decrease the amount of rainfall/cloud development overall... but there are also evidence that says when it does rain, and there is smoke in the atmosphere, it can enhance rainfall.

Either way, glad you got so much rain this past week. Over here in Western ID, we only got about 1/4-1/2". Better than nothing, but I was watching you guys get hammered on radar several time... quite envious. At least it's been much cooler over here the last week or so!

Yup.
The nights here have been very cool. Today was the first clear day that wasn't breezy, and the smoke is back already. It didn't take long to return!

[nm9stheham]

Looking at this map yesterday, the CA smoke seems to be channeling right up through NV and southern OR, on into ID, and on over into WY and MT right now. I've been checking highway cameras at Teton and Togwotee Passes for 6 weeks and the smoke there has not let up hardly at all in that time.

https://fire.airnow.gov/

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

Looking at this map yesterday, the CA smoke seems to be channeling right up through NV and southern OR, on into ID, and on over into WY and MT right now. I've been checking highway cameras at Teton and Togwotee Passes for 6 weeks and the smoke there has not let up hardly at all in that time.

https://fire.airnow.gov/

Yup. That's exactly where the smoke is coming from.
It does let up from time to time; yesterday wasn't as bad as today, and today isn't as bad as it was 2 weeks ago before we got some good rainstorms.

It's a tragic and very sad situation. These coastal wildfires have been occurring regularly for almost a decade now, and there seems to be no end in sight for them. Idaho has been very, very fortunate so far. Every time I see another big burn I think that could have been us.

I hope our luck holds. The U.S. has a lot of work to do in our national forests this century. They must be cleaned, thinned and cared for as a national priority, or we could lose many of them to fire, and that would be the loss of one four greatest natural resources.

This summer has been better than last summer. Last year at this time, the smoke here was so thick I became asthmatic and had to go on oxygen to breathe. I'm still on it, but I only use it now while sleeping. I'm fine during the day when I'm up and going.

Earlier this summer, I thought I would send the oxygen concentrator back to the rental outfit, but I decided to keep it just in case the smoke became worse. I'm glad I did; I never know when I'll wake up to a thickly smoky day again this summer, and though it's been better, those days still come and go.

It doesn't take much wind to move the smoke in, it seems. When it comes, it can come suddenly, and if the wind dies down, the smoke pools and concentrates lower to the ground. And then it can blow out as suddenly as it came with the next breezy day. Big changes in only a few hours' time.

[dcisive]

As as avid photographer I had hopes of heading up north of Ketchum for some color change photography. But it's not looking real optimistic as shooting in smoke ain't real nice. The greatest portion of the change is expected by the 2nd week in September, and I doubt the smoke fest out of Cali will be done by then. Bummer. I've run into the same mess over the years trying to shoot at Glacier Natl. Park. Smoke simply doesn't work where photography is concerned. Oh well......another lost year perhaps.