Real-time Outdoors

Current Weather

Weather forecasts and climate data from multiple sources.

• National Weather Service 7-day forecast
• Windfinder wind forecast and maps
• Schweitzer weather forecast
• Real-time weather radar from AccuWeather

The heavens

Geomagnetic forecast for the northern lights

Forecasts for solar activity and geomagnetic field disturbances that cause the aurora borealis, aka the northern lights.

• Soft Serve News Aurora Borealis Forecast
• University of Alaska Aurora Forecast page

Night sky events

• Celestial events and geomagnetic storm reports at SpaceWeather.com.
• Predicted meteor shower activity next 24 hours at Global Meteor Network.
• Moon phases and planetary events at Farmer’s Almanac Astronomy.

Regional Fire Watch

The active fire season in forestlands surrounding Sandpoint can run from May into October. Even fires far away in Washington, Montana or British Columbia can cause exceedingly smoky conditions here. Use these links to monitor fire activity:

• Idaho fire alerts
• Idaho fire map
• Washington-Oregon fire map
• Montana fire map
• British Columbia: Wildfire situation reports
• InciWeb – National Incident Information System
• AirNow – National fire and smoke map
  • Campfire Safety Guide – Tips and suggestions for safe campfires – when conditions permit.

Air Quality

Use these links to see current and forecast air quality, as measured at Sandpoint and regional monitoring stations.

• Air Quality Index shows current measurements in real time.
• Air Quality Forecast from Idaho DEQ with fine particulate and ozone levels.

Lake Pend Oreille conditions

Lake Level
See current lake level data for Pend Oreille lake and river, from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Lake Guide
Get additional information about Lake Pend Oreille, including history, information on boating, fishing and sailing, a map and more, in Sandpoint Online’s lake guide.

Current regional streamflows

Real-time streamflow data, provided by the USGS Water Data department.

• Priest River at Priest River
• Moyie River at Eastport
• Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry
• Yaak River at Highway 2
• Clark Fork River at Plains
• Clark Fork River at St. Regis
• Clark Fork River below Missoula
• Spokane River at Spokane

• See all Idaho rivers
• See all Montana rivers
• See all Washington rivers

National Forests

Sandpoint lies within the boundaries of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, which is within the nine northernmost Idaho counties plus portions of Montana and Washington. Immediately adjacent to the east is the Kootenai National Forest, covering northwest Montana; and to the west is the Colville National Forest of northeast Washington.

• Idaho Panhandle National Forest encompassing North Idaho
• Kootenai National Forest encompassing NW Montana
• Colville National Forest encompassing NE Washington

Road conditions

Idaho, Washington, Montana and Canada
Check road conditions for highways in the region in our Travel Center.

Current snow conditions

Backcountry avalanche danger
Current avalanche forecast provided by the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center, posting current condition reports for the Selkirk and Cabinet mountain ranges.

Schweitzer snow report
Check most recent snowfalls, snow depths and conditions at top of mountain and lodge, plus recently groomed trails.

Idaho snowpack
See current snowpack readings by basin and major drainages for Idaho, including Kootenai, Priest and Pend Oreille. Links to historic data also. Provided by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service