SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED:
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 2:30 PM Gary Votaw
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* Special Protection Zone
(SPZ) provisions apply from November 15 through February
15. Prescribed burning is not allowed in an SPZ from December 1
through February 15 on days when the daily woodstove “Ordinance” is either
“Red,” “Exempt Wood Burning Device,” or “No Burning Period.” Burning
is allowed inside of SPZs all other days, but please use extra precautions and
limit forestland burning to units that will not worsen air quality within
nearby SSRAs. *
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1. DISCUSSION AND
FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
SHORT-TERM
DISCUSSION
Showers
gradually decrease on Thursday under NW flow aloft and while an upper ridge is building
into the coast. Another .10” to 25” of
moisture during the day will be typical for mountains except less in the south,
snow levels rising to 2500-3500 feet.
Mixing conditions will be very good with SW-W winds.
EXTENDED
DISCUSSION
On Friday and Saturday, the ridge is over the coast to cause very
low mixing heights and offshore winds. No
precipitation is expected on either day and skies range
from mostly cloudy in the north to mostly sunny south. Poor burning conditions are expected with light
SE transport winds.
The ridge remains dominant by Sunday to cause poor burning conditions,
but a trough brushes across the extreme northwest where light rain is likely. Otherwise, skies will be mostly cloudy in the
far north to mostly sunny south. Mixing
conditions remain poor and winds light and variable.
2. DISPERSION
THURSDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to W at 12 - 22 mph.
Surface wind SW
to W at 6 - 12 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1300 - 2300 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to WSW to WNW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind SW
to W at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
to W at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind SW
to W at 8 - 12 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to W at 13 - 25 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1800 ft.
Transport wind W
to NW at 12 - 24 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
3800 - 4800 ft.
Transport wind W
to NW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WNW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
increases to SW to W at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to NNE to ENE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
increases to WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1700 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind ESE to SSE at
6 - 10 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1800 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind ESE to S at 6
- 10 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1900 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind light and
variable. Surface wind light and
variable.
3. BURNING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Thursday, January
8, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
All Zones
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Cascades
All zones except
Zone 610 and 611
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. From T15S through T20S in
Zone 608 units should be 1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart.
Zone 610
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 611
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
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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.