Spokane 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 Spokane.
Spokane sits at about 1,900 feet in the Spokane River valley, on the eastern edge of the Columbia Plateau where it meets the Selkirk and Bitterroot ranges. That places it closer to a dense concentration of forest than any other city of its size in the Northwest, and the valley is deep enough to hold a nighttime inversion through most of the late-summer season.
Where the smoke comes from
Northeastern Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and southeastern British Columbia all burn within a couple hundred miles, and all three drain toward Spokane. Unlike Seattle, Spokane frequently gets smoke from fires it can practically see, so episodes start faster and the concentrations run higher. The Colville and Kaniksu forests are the names to watch.
How long it lasts
The valley inversion is the problem. Smoke that arrives during the day settles overnight and is still there at dawn, so a single calm night can undo an afternoon of improvement. Real clearing usually waits for a frontal passage rather than a sea breeze, which means Spokane episodes tend to last longer than coastal ones.
Past smoke events
Spokane posts some of the worst late-summer air quality readings in the United States on a near-annual basis. August 2015, August 2018, September 2020, and August 2021 all produced multi-day stretches in the unhealthy or hazardous range.
Running, riding, and trailheads
Riverside State Park, the Centennial Trail along the river, and Mount Spokane are the local staples. Mount Spokane tops out above 5,800 feet, high enough that on inversion mornings the summit road can climb clear of the valley smoke while downtown is still socked in.
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.