Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) – It was a déjà vu moment Monday, looking back to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, when my wife’s black car parked outside overnight was covered in a layer of wildfire ash.

Monday morning I spoke with meteorologist Leann Allegretto about what happened that night in Missoula.

There was visible ash from forest fires on vehicles Monday morning

“We had reports this morning of the same thing (ash) on the roads here near the Missoula airport,” Allegretto began. “So from what I can tell, we had some southerly flow last night, so wind and showers out of the south all night. And my best guess would be, nothing’s confirmed, but from how many fires there are south of us, it pulled a lot of what was burning and got it up into the atmosphere, all the way up into the Missoula Valley.”

Allegretto sought advice from the Missoula City-County Health Department on actual air quality.

Air quality specialist tackles challenges for schools and parents

I spoke with air quality specialist Ben Schmidt about the current air quality challenges.

“We had a lot of fires yesterday (Sunday), not just the Sharrott Creek near Stevensville, but even in Idaho and Oregon, and so the smoke and all the fires are pretty widespread,” Schmidt said. “The ash is most likely from the Sharrott Creek fire, and there’s just enough wind and enough activity to get that ash all the way up into the Missoula Valley and certainly blanket large portions of Northern Ravalli County.”

Schmidt said air quality in western Montana could pose a health concern over the next 24 to 48 hours.

“We’re right on the edge, depending on where you are, of unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality,” he said. “It’s bad enough that I really encourage people to, whenever they can, if they can, find a clean indoor air space, you know, something with filtered air, with a MERV 13 or a MERV 11, and one of those little indoor air purifiers, if they have one available.”

READ MORE: High temperatures put Missoula County in high fire danger again

Schmidt has recommendations for parents and schools

Schmidt advises parents and schools to keep their children indoors until air quality improves.

“My recommendations are to postpone some of these events, particularly outdoor events,” he said. “If you don’t have clean indoor air, let’s postpone those activities for a day or two. There’s a good chance that we’re going to see better air quality soon. There’s some moisture with that system, and that’s forecasted with that system, and if we get that, we can dampen the fires a little bit. So let’s just sit tight and be ready to start our activities again once the smoke clears a little bit.”

I spoke with Tyler Christensen from MCPS and he recommended that kids stay inside during recess until the air quality improves.