Inversions/air quality issues in Boise/CDA/Idaho Falls? (Nampa: homes, living in)

[Vegas-to-?]

My family is planning to escape Las Vegas as soon as possible. We had our heart set on Northern Utah until we learned about the horrible air quality issues during the so-called inversions in winter. Idaho wasn't even on our radar until we started doing some more research and discovered there's a lot more than potatoes! What a beautiful state! Do any of the major cities in Idaho have issues with air quality and inversions like those experienced in the Salt Lake and Utah valleys?

[sweetp979]

Wow, I'm glad you said something...and I'm curious to see the replies. I have very severe asthma and all my research pointed to northern Idaho being a very clean place to live as far as respiratory issues go. That was the number one reason I had to leave SLC.

[Vegas-to-?]

Are you in Flagstaff now (according to the info shown on your post)? I also have asthma. I still like Utah, and people have advised me that if you just stay indoors during the inversions that it's not that bad. But I just don't know about Utah anymore.....

[sweetp979]

I honestly would not recommend Utah at all. It was miserable. My lungs hurt like they've never hurt before, and it was all I could do to keep out of the ER, even just staying inside. I stayed there 3 months and left.

Yes, I'm in Flag now - the air up here is awesome, once you get used to the elevation.

[TohobitPeak]

Study: Salt Lake City too polluted for babies - Video on TODAY.com

[lovecda]

Periodically, everyplace I've lived in Idaho has suffered from "inversions" and other air-quality problems, but after living in Coeur d'Alene for so long, it's difficult for me not to notice the haze in the Treasure Valley (Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell). But it's not really a total breeze in north Idaho for people who have breathing issues either. We have a lot of pine trees, so pollen is a major problem for a couple of months each year. There are also annual field burns in the area around Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Rathdrum.

Here are a few air quality maps of Idaho from 2012:

January
May
August
October

Green = "Good," Yellow = "Moderate," Orange = "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups," Red = "Unhealthy"

The data and rating system are from the EPA.

A family member who has recently become very sensitive to air quality to the point of anaphylaxis in conditions that don't seem to affect most other people in any way visited me this past summer from Idaho Falls and ended up having to leave due to the air quality. So while I, and most others, would say that our air quality is overall very good, it might be a problem for some.

[banjomike]

The map is deceiving unless you know idaho. The big red areas seen in August and October are traditional forest fire areas, and 2012 was a particularly bad fire year. The area of red is very lightly populated.
Our air pollution problems come much more from natural than human causes.

As lovecada mentioned, May is always a heavy pollen month, and it's also the time when all the farms are in full operation. There's a lot of tree pollen in the north and agricultural dust in the south.

There are a few towns that are prone to having air quality problems in the winter here; Salmon, Boise and Pocatello all lie in holes, much like Salt Lake, but all have a fraction of the population of SLC, so the air quality is never as bad, even in inversions. In Idaho Falls and the upper Snake river valley, temperature inversions happen, but it just gets colder and cloudier down low in the towns than it is in the mountains.

Some small mountain towns still have log smog for brief periods during wintertime, since those towns often use wood as their heating fuel. Places like Ketchum, Driggs, Victor, etc. all have a few days of log smog occur once in a while.

But all in all, Idaho air is pretty darned good. The weather service uses the Craters of the Moon Natl. Monument, a volcanic area in south Idaho as it's standard base for measuring air quality.

[lovecda]

Originally Posted by banjomike

The map is deceiving unless you know idaho. The big red areas seen in August and October are traditional forest fire areas, and 2012 was a particularly bad fire year. The area of red is very lightly populated.
Our air pollution problems come much more from natural than human causes.

Very true. I chose some of the worst months and the worst days during those months, primarily based upon my relative's experience--she's more concerned about the times she won't be able to breathe, as opposed to the times when she can. So I felt it was best to show the worst-case.

Wildfires are a decent contributor to any "bad air" in Idaho, especially central Idaho. As terribly as it affected the air quality, some of my favorite photos are these I took along Highway 95 during the 2008 wildfire season.

[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?

[lovecda]

They are genuine wildfires, but rarely threaten homes or well-inhabited areas. You can periodically see the flames from the cities, but there's overall very little threat to people. Usually the fires are concentrated in central Idaho and are started by dry lightning. You'll see some in southern Idaho every few years, and on very rare occasions one in north Idaho. Idaho keeps a good handle on any fires that occur. In fact, the only forest fire(s) of true note was in 1910, so it's truly a once in a century occurrence. Idaho Forest Fire Stories - The 1910 Fires

There are controlled field burns in north Idaho, but not many forest fires. During the summer we'll have a few days every year or two where we can see smoke or have a very vibrant red sunset caused by smoke from fires in eastern Washington, but large, threatening fires in north Idaho are pretty rare.