SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
June 9, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
*********************************************************************
We Need Your Feedback!
The Smoke Management
Department is planning to “upgrade” this product so that it more effectively
meets your needs. To assist us with this
project, we are requesting feedback from you!
Below are a few questions
to help you consider what changes would be most beneficial for you. All ideas are welcome!
Is the “Short-Term
Discussion” useful? What would enhance
it?
Is the “Long-term
Discussion” useful? What would enhance
it?
How could the “Dispersion”
forecast better meet your needs?
Is the “Outlook”
useful? What would enhance it?
Are the “Burning
Instructions” clear and concise? How
could they be improved for your use?
How do you access the
forecast product (i.e., Email; web page; telephone recording)?
We are considering
discontinuing or upgrading the phone recording of the forecast product. Is that something you currently use? Would you use it if you could get your
specific forecast from it faster?
Please Email your feedback
to: Peter.GJ.Parsons@odf.oregon.gov
Thank you!
*********************************************************************
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
A few light showers
are expected for northern zones with drier weather south on Wednesday. Flow aloft will be from NW with an
upper-level ridge far offshore. Winds
will be from NW-N. Temperatures stay
near seasonable before a big warmup.
Mixing heights will be fair on the coast and good inland.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Thursday starts a warming pattern with
temperatures rising above average. The
upper-level ridge will be offshore with NW flow aloft. Mixing heights will be good inland but low on
the coast. Surface winds will be light
from N for coastal zones and variable for Cascades zones. Transport winds will be from W-NE.
Friday will be dry with well-above
seasonable temperatures. Winds will be
from NW-NNE. Mixing heights will be
good.
Saturday will have light flow aloft as
the upper-level ridge moves closer. Winds will come from N-NE with well above average
temperatures. Mixing heights will be
high.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind WNW
to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3000 - 4000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 2000 ft.
Transport wind
NNW to NNE at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2800 - 3800 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 3500
- 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind WNW
to NNW at 8 - 12 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to NW to N at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind N
to NE at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind NNW
to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2300 - 3300 ft.
Transport wind
NNW to NNE at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind NW
to N at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind N
to NE at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind becomes
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 2300 - 3300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind W to
NW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 4000 - 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind WNW
to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind NW
to N at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind NW
to N at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2100 to 3100 ft by late morning rising to 2800 to
3800 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind NE to E at 4 - 8 mph during the morning becoming
NW to NNE at 5 - 9 mph during the afternoon.
Surface wind light and variable.
FRIDAY
In the Coast
Range mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1500 to 2500 ft by late
morning rising to 2500 to 3500 ft during the afternoon. In the Cascades mixing height below 1000 ft
early rising to 2800 to 3800 ft by late morning rising to 4200 to 5000 ft
during the afternoon. Transport wind NNW
to NNE at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind light
and variable during the morning becoming NW to N at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
SATURDAY
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 2600 to 3600 ft by late morning rising to 4200 to 5000
ft during the afternoon. Transport wind
NNE to ENE at 8 - 12 mph. Surface wind
light and variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday, June
10, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
Zone 601 and 612
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Restrict units in or near corridors to 500
tons or less.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
400 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 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
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Restrict units to 500 tons or less south of
T30S.
Zone 620
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 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 6 miles apart.
Zone 610
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620 and 622
Units should be
750 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. East of R2W in Zone 622, use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Siskiyous
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below. Ensure adequate distance from downwind
SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
==============================================================
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.