SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
November 25, 2025
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
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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 “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
Upper-level ridging will have W flow
aloft and warm air that will suppress mixing heights on Wednesday. A stalled front will bring showers to northern
zones with amounts up to 0.25”, while southern zones will stay dry. Light surface winds will be from SSE-S and
transport winds are expected from S.
Temperatures will be above seasonable.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
More rain moves onshore for Thursday
with a weak upper-level trough early and another system late. Totals will range from 0.25-0.50” in northern
zones and under 0.05” in southern zones.
Mixing heights will improve along the coast but stay fair to poor
inland. Surface winds will come from SSE-SSW. Increasing transport winds will be from S-SW.
Friday starts to dry out with light showers
north and continued dry conditions south.
Flow aloft will come from NW. Winds
will be light and variable, somewhat offshore.
Snow levels will be near 5000 feet north and near 6000 feet south. Mixing heights will be fair to good.
Saturday will have mid-to-high level
clouds and dry weather with NW flow aloft.
Surface winds will be light and variable. Transport winds will turn from NW-NE. Seasonable temperatures come with lowering
mixing heights.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601-612 and
639 (North Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE-SSE and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to ESE to SSE at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1000 - 1700 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE-SSW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1000 - 1700 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1900 to 2900 ft by late morning and
through the afternoon. In the south
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 1800 ft by late morning
rising to 2000 to 3000 ft during the afternoon.
Transport wind S to SSW at 8 - 12 mph during the morning becoming SSW to
WSW at 12 - 24 mph during the afternoon.
Surface wind light and variable during the morning becoming S to SW at 6
- 10 mph during the afternoon.
FRIDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 2000 to 3000 ft during
the afternoon. In the south mixing
height below 1000 ft early rising to 1500 to 2500 ft by late morning rising to
2500 to 3500 ft during the afternoon.
Transport wind light and variable.
Surface wind light and variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1200 to 2200 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 Wednesday,
November 26, 2025.
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Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.
Complete ignitions by 2:30 p.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind
SSRAs. North of Tillamook, use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. North of T3N in Zone 602, use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Units may be 900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Zone 612
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 615, 616
west of R8W, 618, 619, and 620
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Avoid burning directly upwind of the North Bend/Coos Bay SSRA.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S -
call the forecaster.
Cascades
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.
Complete ignitions by 2:30 p.m. in all zones.***
Zone 605, 606,
and 616
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. In zone 616 avoid ignitions north of
T24S. South of T29S higher tonnage is
possible - call the forecaster.
Zone 607, 608,
639, 610, 617, and 623
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Zone 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620 and 622
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. Complete ignitions by 2:30 p.m.***
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 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.