Inversions/air quality issues in Boise/CDA/Idaho Falls? (live in, area)

[banjomike]

An interesting phenomenon in S.E. Idaho is we sometimes get Salt Lake's smog on rare occasions when the winds are just right. By the time it gets here, it's well diluted, but still smells like old tires and smog.

This also happens on rare occasions with big forest fires. The Yellowstone fire of 1988's smoke blew this way, and once in a while, we'll smell a range fire, but Yellowstone left us smoky for 2 weeks. !/2 the park caught fire; it was a big one!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Vegas-to-?

Now you're starting to scare me a bit. Are these wild wildfires or are they controlled burns? Do people in and around Boise have to fear wildfires?

Boise had some wildfires in 2000, a bad year all over the West, but fire here, except for the central wilderness is very rare. Salmon is the only town that is in any way regularly affected in it's air quality.

Controlled burns are closely watched, always burn for a short time, and very seldom ever get out of control. They go on all the time somewhere in the state, but never present much of an air hazard.

Range fires are more common than forest fires,, but they are typically smaller, more quickly extinguished, and create less smoke. Most range fires happen in the southern half of the state.

The fact is, in a bad year, all the Intermountain West can burn, all the way from the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia all the way down to New Mexico. 2000 was such a year. While all the fires were put down, there were always several going strong somewhere until the snow killed them all.

In 2000, there were fires in B.C., Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah all going on at the same time.

[Shagisland]

"Now you're starting to scare me...." You appear to be looking for a place that DOES NOT EXIST. Idaho has some beautiful scenery...FACT! Idaho also has a massive inflow of Californians every year as they attempt to escape that disastrous mess. The smog in the Treasure "VALLEY", Happy "VALLEY", Swan "VALLEY", Silver "VALLEY" gets worse every year and will continue to do so as long as people continue to flood this state. The Summers are HOT...The Winters ARE COLD. The Jobs pay subsistence wages, The Traffic moves at a snails pace even without accidents. STAY WHERE YOU ARE ARE BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED.

[Cnynrat]

In 2012, 12% of the population of Idaho were born in California. The population of California represents 11.9% of the population of the United States, so about equal to the proportion of Idahoans born in California.

19% of the population of Idaho were born in some other state in the west (WA - 5%, UT - 4%, OR - 4%, all others - 6%).

Idaho's migration pattern in recent decades is that it's been a net migration magnet, attracting people from a wide variety of other states. Less than half the population of Idaho were born there. While Californians represent to largest number of immigrants, it's also the largest state in the union in terms of population, so that's not too surprising.

Interesting interactive graphics here.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Shagisland

"Now you're starting to scare me...." You appear to be looking for a place that DOES NOT EXIST. Idaho has some beautiful scenery...FACT! Idaho also has a massive inflow of Californians every year as they attempt to escape that disastrous mess. The smog in the Treasure "VALLEY", Happy "VALLEY", Swan "VALLEY", Silver "VALLEY" gets worse every year and will continue to do so as long as people continue to flood this state. The Summers are HOT...The Winters ARE COLD. The Jobs pay subsistence wages, The Traffic moves at a snails pace even without accidents. STAY WHERE YOU ARE ARE BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED.

Shag Island, as in Southern Australia? Welcome to the forum! Dont' forget, C-D is a forum primarily for people who want to move someplace else! And it is deeply ingrained in US history and traditions that we can pick up and move, and change our lives for the better. It doesn't always work out that way, but it is a powerfully motivating notion that we don't share with a lot of other countries where people don't have that option, or don't feel they do. If everybody had stayed where they were planted.....we wouldn't be where we are now .

The OP (original poster) hasn't been active for more than two years, so perhaps he found what he was looking for. I hope so. And as Cnynrat points out, a large number of Idahoans were born elsewhere, and they didn't all come from California.

[banjomike]

I might be wrong, as it's been a while, but I corresponded with the OP answering some questions, and after moving from Vegas to Utah, he eventually moved to S. Idaho about 18 months ago or so. We fell out of communication after a while before the move here, but he did let me know they settled here just afterward.

The reason for the air quality concern was a bad case of asthma in a family member.

[volosong]

Understanding it is an old thread, I'll contribute for future seekers and when someone uses the search function.

About a week and a half ago, I went to take a bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes from Harrison eastward. Leaving CdA that morning, it was the usual glorious late summer/early autumn day. A few high cirrus clouds, cool temperatures perfect for a bike ride, and unlimited visibility without a hint of particulates in the air.

Getting off the 90 on 97 and heading south to the jump-off point at Harrison, it was a pretty beautiful drive. No hurries, and pretty much non-existent traffic for a Thursday morning. A nice day for a sight-seeing drive. However, about three miles north of Harrison, it suddenly became very 'hazy'. I grew up in smog and know it when I see it. At Harrison, I had to make a decision about if I should ride or not. There were some fires in the area the previous weeks, but they were extinguished for days before I arrived in NID.

It was smoke because I could smell it, albeit very faint. My concern is if I wanted to breath smoke while exerting the energy I usually expend while riding. I tend to push it at times, causing deep breathing and a lot of 'huffing and puffing'. I decided to ride because there was only a hint of smoke smell and figured I wouldn't damage my lungs too much. Other than the views being partially obstructed, the ride went well.

Strangely, there was absolutely zero wind the entire day. Never ridden in conditions like that. Was able to do a good turn of speed. And because of the wind, or more accurately - the lack of it, it was surprising that when I returned to CdA that mid-afternoon, it was also 'hazy'. The 'smoke' had drifted up north. The smoke must have come into the area from some far-away place because there were no active fires in NID that day.

I posed a picture from that ride as post #424 of the Idaho picture thread. It is the last picture taken from the trail, looking SE. You can see the smoke haze expressed by the hills in the background.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by Shagisland

"Now you're starting to scare me...." You appear to be looking for a place that DOES NOT EXIST. Idaho has some beautiful scenery...FACT! Idaho also has a massive inflow of Californians every year as they attempt to escape that disastrous mess. The smog in the Treasure "VALLEY", Happy "VALLEY", Swan "VALLEY", Silver "VALLEY" gets worse every year and will continue to do so as long as people continue to flood this state. The Summers are HOT...The Winters ARE COLD. The Jobs pay subsistence wages, The Traffic moves at a snails pace even without accidents. STAY WHERE YOU ARE ARE BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED.

You joined to post this? What area of Idaho do you live in and what area of that city do you work?

[boiselover]

the fires are a huge and regular problem it seems now with the crazy weather we have now. Some are caused by man also. Add the increase in population and cars and well its only going to get worse. I wouldn't recommend the area to sensitive groups as i stated elsewhere my father left the area for california for this reason and is not interested in moving back for health reasons

[NorthIDremnant]

Seems to be theme with air quality - this is an old post, with some recent replies - just figured I'd chime in.

Like several others have said: the air quality is actually pretty good here - most of the time. Unfortunately what you don't read or hear about is the hazardous soil and water quality. Local officials don't talk about or have plans to improve the very serious water and soil issues from the Silver Valley mining area. It's not hidden info - just a little casual research will get you the background (just google "superfund site" and start reading). the local health department claims the entire issue is being corrected. It's true, they're working on it, but the lake and local streams are polluted. I just learned about a marketing campaign they just did to educate the public about "safe outdoor activities" and how to minimize the effects of lead poisoning from being in the lake, local streams, and even just playing in the dirt. Again, local officials keep this quiet -- they won't tell us why so many children and adults still have lead poisoning. Or what happens to the lake and local streams after a decent rainfall (what happens is all that water transfers the lead in nearby hills into local streams, wchih filter right in to lake Coeur d'alene -- all the way down to the spokane river. And you'll never hear a word from the press.

Keep doing your research and make your decisions with your eyes wide open.