SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED:
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 2:30
PM Gary Votaw
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
SHORT-TERM
DISCUSSION
An upper-level trough is stationary south
of Oregon and will stay there through Thursday pushing moisture northward. Showers continue with thunderstorms possible. Rainfall reaching .50” to 1.00” is likely in
the Cascades and Siskiyous. Coastal
locations will be partly to mostly sunny with .10” or less of rain. Burning conditions will be poor in the Coast
Range but becoming very good in the Cascades.
The north will see NW winds while SW-WNW in the south.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
The upper trough moves east on Friday in
favor of a very weak ridge. A stray
shower may occur under partly to mostly sunny skies but very cool with
temperatures 10-15oF below average.
Fair to moderate mixing is expected through the day with W-NW transport
winds.
Another but much weaker trough from
the west passes by on Saturday. Skies
will be mostly sunny while still around 10oF below seasonal
levels. Mixing will become good in the
afternoon with W-NW winds.
Sunday will be mostly
sunny and warmer under weak NW flow aloft.
Good mixing is expected in the afternoon with W-NW winds.
2. DISPERSION
THURSDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1400 - 2400 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 5 - 9 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1900 ft.
Transport wind NW
at 19 - 33 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 10 - 18 mph.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 2900 - 3900 ft.
Transport wind
NNE to NE at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3900 - 4900 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to NW to NNW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
increases to WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to WSW to WNW at 10 - 18 mph.
Surface wind
shifts to SW to WNW at 6 - 12 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to NW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind W to
NW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1700 - 2700 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to WNW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height 2000
– 3000 ft.
Transport wind
similar to afternoon.
Surface wind WSW
to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind W
to NW at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WNW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
remains above 5000 ft.
Transport wind W
to NW at 10 - 18 mph.
Surface wind WSW
to NW at 6 - 10 mph.
OUTLOOK:
FRIDAY
Mixing height
2500 to 3500 ft throughout the day.
Transport wind W to NW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind light and variable.
SATURDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 3400 to 4400 ft by late morning and
through the afternoon. In the south
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 2000 to 3000 ft by late morning
rising to 4000 to 5000 ft during the afternoon.
Transport wind W to NW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind light and variable during the morning becoming W to NW at 6
- 10 mph during the afternoon.
SUNDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 2900 to 3900 ft by late morning
rising to 3500 to 4500 ft during the afternoon.
In the south mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1300 to 2300 ft
by late morning rising to 4000 to 5000 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind W to NW at 8 - 12 mph during
the morning becoming NW to N at 9 - 15 mph during the afternoon. Surface wind light and variable during the
morning becoming W to NNW at 6 - 10 mph during the afternoon.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Thursday, May 28,
2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601, 612,
and 616 east of R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S in
Zone 616. Call the forecaster.
Zone 602 and 603
No burning
allowed. Higher tonnage is possible
south of the Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Call the forecaster.
Zone 615 and 616
west of R8W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S in
Zone 616. Call the forecaster.
Zone 618 and 619
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Cascades
All zones except
zone 610
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Zone 610
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
==============================================================
4. SPECIAL NOTES:
The ODF forecast smoke zones differ from
the NWS fire zones and
are available at:
https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/documents/smoke-forecast-zone-map.pdf
Call the smoke management duty forecaster
at (503) 945-7401 to
discuss burning. Please do not call
individual's numbers to
discuss daily burning. If the forecaster is
not available,
leave a message and they will return your
call as soon as possible.
Avoid calling between 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.
The forecast is available on the Internet
at:
http://www.odf.state.or.us/DIVISIONS/protection/fire_protection/
Daily/smi.htm
Please ensure your units have been planned
and accomplished by
checking:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire/Pages/Burn.aspx
A map of planned and/or accomplished burns
is located at:
http://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html
?id=a7e321dc8fc444b7a33fbc67bc673a3b
The forecast/instruction telephone
recording is: (503) 945-7400.
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the
email list for this
product, please go to the link:
http://weather.smkmgt.com/mailman/listinfo/
5. STANDARD GUIDANCE MATRIX:
* Greater than 5000 ft mixing height: Limit
to 150 tons per mile
from downwind SSRAs. Example: 75 tons
allowed if burned a half
mile from a downwind SSRA.
* 3000 - 5000 ft mixing height: Limit to 50
tons per mile if burning
within 5 miles of downwind SSRAs. Limit to
100 tons per mile if
burning 5 miles or beyond downwind SSRAs.
Example #1: 200 tons allowed if burned 4
miles from a downwind SSRA.
Example #2: 500 tons allowed if burned 5
miles from a downwind SSRA.
* Less than 3000 ft mixing height: No burning
within 5 miles of
downwind SSRAs. Limit to 60 tons per mile
from downwind SSRAs.
Example: 300 tons allowed if burned 5 miles
from a downwind SSRA.
* Ensure adequate spacing between units when
burning near downwind
SSRAs.
* Use of polyethylene (PE) sheeting on
greater than 75 percent of
piles in a unit with 60 percent coverage
per pile will allow a
50 percent increase in tonnage over the
existing instruction tonnage
for that zone.
* All exceptions must be coordinated with the
duty forecaster
prior to ignition.
6. BURN MONITORING:
Burns over 2000 tons must be monitored (OAR
629-048-0230(3) -
7/1/14). Monitoring of all burns is highly
recommended for both
smoke management purposes and wildfire
potential.