Smoky West

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We are just north of West Yellowstone now (Baker's Hole). The smoky haze is significant. We can't see the mountains we know are there, and the air quality is between "yellow" and "orange" in the area. Weather reports aren't good for a change in the next few days. It will take a big weather system (hopefully with rain or snow) to clear it out.

If this is a huge trip, primarily to see scenery, you might want to wait until next year. For us, the air is just as bad at home so we might as well be here. There are some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets due to the smoke in the air though. Fall frequently has a lot of fires, it just goes with the territory. It is worse than usual this year though.
 
We drove up to Jackson Hole WY from Alpine Junction WY yesterday (followed the Snake River). Lots of smoke obscuring the mountains all the way.
 
Gee, I wonder what all this smoke, fire, tornados, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, earthquakes and floods could mean?
 
Nothing!  It is simply the cyclical nature of the earth. 
 
I am camp hosting in the Gorge.  The Eagle Creek fire has jumped the Colombia River,  Cascade locks has been evacuated, I-84 has been closed down to all traffic from Troutdale to the Dalles, on the Washington side RT 14 is closed to truck traffic from the Dalles to Washougal.  Smoke is significant everywhere in the region.  Packing up today preparing to bug out.
 
taoshum said:
Gee, I wonder what all this smoke, fire, tornados, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, earthquakes and floods could mean?
Click to expand...

We're having crappy summer weather?
 
This is a pic of the sun from my back yard, as it is about to disappear behind Arapaho Peak Tuesday afternoon.
 

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My friend in Sister, OR said last night that the smoke is really bad there.

ArdraF
 
Well this is disappointing. I won't actually arrive in Wyoming until Thursday of next week.  Thank you for the updates.  I need to think this through. :-\
 
taoshum said:
Gee, I wonder what all this smoke, fire, tornados, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, earthquakes and floods could mean?
Click to expand...

Should we wait for the locusts??

Here in northwest Indiana, the sunsets and sunrises have been a colorful orange.  Weird smoky grey sky color yesterday; more blue today.
 
I am camping in southern Oregon right now and can tell you that with a few rains this past week that the smoke is better.  It is certainly not perfect, but the air quality index has gotten better significantly in the past few days.  In fact. Portland is doing fairly well.  And, unfortunately, most of the smoke is the result of fires in the U.S., not BC anymore. 

Here are a couple of good sources to check smoke forecasts: 
  • https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.news_item&newsitemid=93  (type in the specific state)
  • http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/  (This is an excellent site for Oregon and is very up-to-date.)
 
taoshum said:
Gee, I wonder what all this smoke, fire, tornados, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, earthquakes and floods could mean?
Click to expand...

My lottery numbers are coming up tonight?  ;D
 
Also, I drove up the Oregon coast today to Yachats, and all is well.  No discernible smoke at all.  In fact, the sky was blue and there was a nice breeze coming off the ocean, so at least this part of Oregon is in good shape.
 
FWIW ... yesterday we drove up to Jackson Hole and took the aerial tram from Teton Village up Rendezvous Mountain. The smoke we had last week is very much reduced, although a slight haze is still apparent..
 
This is more about weather in general, but it is one of the more interesting weather sites I have visited


https://www.windy.com


You can see almost everything, for example, weather radar, rain/snow, temperature, clouds, and many more.
 
Tom said:
FWIW ... yesterday we drove up to Jackson Hole and took the aerial tram from Teton Village up Rendezvous Mountain. The smoke we had last week is very much reduced, although a slight haze is still apparent..
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Lots of improvement here, too. When I rode my bike this morning, I could see that visibility was well in excess of 50 miles (probably closer to 75 miles), with only a very slight haze (which we often have, anyway), so more or less back to normal. That high pressure that kept sweeping the smoke into this area has moved further east, allowing the smoke to go elsewhere.

Who knows how long this will last, but for now it's great.
 
pz said:
This is more about weather in general, but it is one of the more interesting weather sites I have visited


https://www.windy.com


You can see almost everything, for example, weather radar, rain/snow, temperature, clouds, and many more.
Click to expand...

Wow!! Fascinating!
 
The smoke is letting up, for now -- a weather pattern change could easily bring it back, so long as the fires are still burning. This isn't easy to predict very far ahead, so you'll be taking your chances -- might be OK, but that's far from certain. You can go there in late Sept/early Oct with minimal chance of snow (but there is still a chance, that late). And you're not too far, at that point, from when they close the park to normal vehicles, though I don't know what the actual date will be.

You may want to check out this Yellowstone web page for more information on when they close various facilities in the park, as well as some other information. If you haven't already done so, you'll probably also want to peruse the Park's main website, as there is a wealth of information there.
 
Much of Montana and a bunch of Wyoming will be getting snow Friday and Saturday. By October pretty much all the campgrounds will be closed and the high passes could be closed too. Mammoth CG is open all year, but nothing else. You will definitely be taking a big chance on the weather. The fires won't go out until heavy snow puts them out. That same snow keeps you away. You might want to think about going in mid to late May next year. More animals and all the waterfalls are gorgeous.
 
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