Reno wildfire smoke forecast
The map above shows NOAA HRRR-Smoke near-surface PM2.5 for the next 48 hours, updated hourly, with active fires from NIFC and live AQI from EPA AirNow monitors. It opens over Reno.
Reno sits at about 4,500 feet in the Truckee Meadows, immediately east of the Sierra Nevada crest. The mountains rise more than 5,000 feet above the city just to the west, and the Meadows form a basin that develops a strong nighttime inversion. Reno is close enough to the Sierra that smoke arrives within hours of a fire starting on the far side of the crest.
Where the smoke comes from
The Sierra west slope and the Tahoe basin are the dominant suppliers, and westerly flow carries their smoke directly over the crest into the Meadows. Northern California fires further away contribute a regional layer, and Great Basin rangeland fires to the east add a fast-moving, shorter-lived source.
How long it lasts
Downslope flow off the Sierra can scour the basin quickly, but the overnight inversion in the Meadows will re-form and re-concentrate whatever is left. Reno tends to have sharper daily swings than Tahoe just over the hill, because the basin is shallower and the daytime mixing is stronger.
Past smoke events
August and September 2021 gave Reno one of the longest hazardous-air stretches of any city in the country, driven by the Caldor and Dixie fires. The 2020 and 2018 seasons both delivered extended episodes from California fires.
Running, riding, and trailheads
Peavine Peak above town and the Tahoe Rim Trail access west of the city both climb out of the Meadows inversion, though during a Tahoe-basin fire the higher ground toward the crest is the smokier direction, not the clearer one.
Reading the map
Use the layer toggle to compare NOAA HRRR-Smoke with the ECCC FireWork model. When the two disagree, treat the higher reading as the cautious call.
Near-surface is the product that maps to what you breathe and to AQI, not the high-altitude column that only tints the sunset. A sky that looks bad and a monitor that reads fine are usually both correct, and they are describing different layers of air.