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Due to your sensitives, you really might want to avoid ID and Missoula area both. You are either in a too dry area prone to fire/smoke, or it is too moist/humid which also sounds like it affects your asthma. I really think the front range of CO would be better for you in that regard.
Colorado certainly has come up as a suggestion quite a few times. I will have to look into it more seriously. Seems the availability of jobs is better there too.
Wildfires are a fact of life no matter where a person lives in the Intermountain West. They can start up anywhere and do, every year, somewhere. Last year was pretty good everywhere. 2 years ago, it was Colorado's turn, and the mountains above Boulder blazed all summer long. There is simply no place that is immune from smoke in Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, California, and New Mexico.
The thing about wildfires is not all are massive, and not all burn for weeks and weeks. Most are put down within a few days, and many burn themselves out. Another thing about life here is range fires are as common as forest fires, and they can be just as smoky as a forest fire.
No matter how severe or not a fire is, the smoke isn't always an issue. A fire can be burning less than 40 miles away and the smoke isn't noticeable and the skies are clear.
Another fire can be burning 800 miles away, and if the winds are carrying it in one particular way, that smoke can be smelled strongly, where things are fine and everything is green.
About the only sure thing about the smoke is if you are living in a hole surrounded by mountains on 3 or more sides, whatever smoke gets there will always tend to settle in the hole. Missoula lies in a hole, and do does Bozeman. In Idaho, Lewiston, Salmon, and Pocatello all lie in holes. So do dozens of other towns scattered all over the west from the Pacific coast all the way east to the Great Plains that all lie in holes.
Smoke is so unpredictable that its impossible to predict or anticipate where it will be.
Idaho Falls sits up on a bench, continually scrubbed by light winds, but I've lived through many periods when it became smoky here briefly.
When Yellowstone Park burned in 1988, our air was thick with the smoke, and we are over 100 miles away for where the fires were, and there are 2 high mountain ranges between there and here. That was the worst smoke I can remember, and it lasted for about 2 weeks, but that was 27 years ago, and we have never had it that bad since or before.
Wildfire smoke is just another trade-off in living out here. There are millions of folks who suffer from asthma who have lived here happily all their lives. They all have learned to deal with the problem, just as they deal with life's other problems. Don't let smoke become something that's so fearful for you as to change your mind and more than fearing you will run into a grizzly bear. Both happen, but neither is a common part of life for anyone.
Thanks banjomike! I'm glad it's not an ongoing issue . Smoke once in a while definitely won't deter me from moving somewhere— I'd just have to take precautions and be aware of it. Actually, as I've dug into researching the PCNW area, the biggest challenge is with employment/legal job opportunities, so I think our decision will mostly end up hinging on that.
There are many great things about this area, but I wouldn't move here for the purpose of finding cleaner air. Smoke in late summer and stagnant air in winter can be issues throughout most of the Intermountain West. It's an unfortunate reality of living mostly in valleys between mountain ranges. Idaho Falls would likely be better than Boise or Pocatello. Air Quality in Idaho - Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
You might also consider the Dakotas, provided cold is not an issue for your lungs.
On the other hand, Idaho air is the national standard for clarity. Craters of the Moon sets the daily standard for pollution, particulates, and all the other stuff that determines the quality of the air.
As I mentioned, smoke isn't a real problem except in relatively few places. Idaho Falls is a good choice, but Twin Falls and Rexburg both have clear air almost all the time, and all of the south has drier air during the winters than the panhandle, and generally less overall humidity. Fog is very rare down here.
On the other hand, Idaho air is the national standard for clarity. Craters of the Moon sets the daily standard for pollution, particulates, and all the other stuff that determines the quality of the air.
Can you cite this? NPS describes air quality at Craters of the Moon as "moderately good" and the numbers don't seem to be the best out of all parks for visibility or ozone.
Can you cite this? NPS describes air quality at Craters of the Moon as "moderately good" and the numbers don't seem to be the best out of all parks for visibility or ozone.
It seems like a lot of air quality is regional, but compared to the Eastern US, I think the PNW has better air quality overall.
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. Smoke once in a while definitely won't deter me from moving somewhere— I'd just have to take precautions and be aware of it. Actually, as I've dug into researching the PCNW area, the biggest challenge is with employment/legal job opportunities, so I think our decision will mostly end up hinging on that.
