SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED:
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
A few light showers linger on Thursday
after an early chance of frost. Flow aloft
will be from NW as an upper-level low moves inland and ridging builds
offshore. Winds will be from W-N. Temperatures will warm some but stay below
seasonable. Mixing heights will be good
while freeing levels rise to 3-4000 feet.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Friday will be dry with upper-level
ridging and light NW flow aloft.
Freezing levels will climb over 5000 feet and temperatures will rise to
near average. Mixing heights will be fair
to good. Winds will be light and
variable while offshore at times.
Dry weather continues on Saturday.
Flow aloft turns to come from SW as upper-level ridging shifts east and
a low will be far offshore. Surface
winds will be light and variable while transport winds will mostly come from
S. Temperatures will rise above
average. Mixing heights will be fair at
the coast and good for the Cascades.
Sunday is expected
to be dry but will depend on the track of the slow-moving upper-level low
offshore providing S flow aloft.
Temperatures will be near or above average and mixing heights will be higher. Winds will be light and somewhat more from S
for the Cascades.
2. DISPERSION
THURSDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind W to
NW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 3100 - 4100 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind W to
NW at 6 - 10 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to WSW to WNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind WSW
to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 3300 - 4300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
NNW to NNE at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind NW
to N at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3500 - 4500 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 NNW
to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 3300 - 4300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind NW
to N at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind WNW
to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind NW
to N at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to NW to N at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2100 to 3100 ft by late morning rising to 3200 to
4200 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind light and variable during the morning becoming E to SE at 4 - 8 mph during
the afternoon. Surface wind light and
variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 to 2800 ft by late morning rising to 3000 to
4000 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph. Surface
wind light and variable.
SUNDAY
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 SE to S at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind
light and variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Thursday, April
16, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
Zone 601, 612,
and 616 east of R9W
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. Restrict units in or near corridors to 500
tons or less. Restrict units to 500 tons
or less south of T30S in Zone 616.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
400 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. Limit burning in or near corridors. Higher tonnage is possible south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603. Call the
forecaster.
Zone 615, 618,
and 619
Use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Avoid burning directly upwind of the North Bend/Coos Bay SSRA.
Zone 616 west of
R8W
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of the Rogue
River. Call the forecaster.
Cascades
Zone 605, 606,
607, 608, 639, 611, 616, 617, and 623
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. From T12S through T17S in
Zone 608 units should be 1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart. South of T30S in Zone 616 units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart.
South of T30S in Zone 617 units should be 1000 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 620 and 622
Units should be
750 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
==============================================================
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.