SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED:
Wednesday, December 24, 2025 2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
********************** Christmas Schedule ***************************
The ODF forecast office will be closed on Christmas Day
and reopen at 7 a.m. on December 26th.
This forecast includes burning instructions through Friday, December
26th (2 days).
For questions regarding prescribed burning planned for
this period, please call the forecast office at 503-945-7401 prior to 5 p.m.
today or after 7 a.m. on Friday, December 26th.
Have a Merry Christmas!
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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
Winds will be more
mild on Thursday, light and variable at the surface and generally from S
for transport winds. Rain through the day
will reach 0.10-0.25”. Snow levels will
drop to 3-4000 feet. Flow aloft will
come from S with an upper-level low off the coast. Temperatures will be near to above average. Mixing heights will be mostly good.
Showers continue Friday with amounts
from 0.10-0.25”. Flow aloft will turn to come from NW as the upper-level low moves to the
coast. Surface winds will be light from
SE-WSW. Transport winds are expected
from S-W. Snow levels stay at 3-4000
feet with seasonable temperatures.
Mixing heights will be good.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Saturday will have a few showers early then drier weather.
Flow aloft will be from NNW with upper-level ridging building
offshore. Light surface winds will be
mostly onshore with transport winds from NW-N.
Temperatures will be near or below seasonable. Freezing levels rise to near 4000 feet and
mixing heights will lower some.
Dry weather on Sunday starts a trend
that lasts into early next week under the influence of
upper-level ridging. Light and variable
surface winds will somewhat come from S. Transport winds are expected from NNW-NNE. Mixing heights will be suppressed.
2. DISPERSION
THURSDAY
Zone 601-612 and
639 (North Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE-SSE and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3300 - 4300 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to ESE to S at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 3500 - 4500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 18 - 30 mph.
Surface wind ESE
to S at 6 - 10 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to SE to S at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind ESE
to SSE at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 3200 to 4200 ft by late morning rising to 4400 to
5000 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SSE to SSW at 6 - 12 mph during the morning becoming SSW to SW at 10 - 20
mph during the afternoon. Surface wind
light and variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2000 to 3000 ft by late morning rising to 3000 to
4000 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind NW to N at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind
light and variable.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 1600 ft by late morning rising to 1600 to
2600 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind light and variable during the morning becoming N to NE at 4 - 8 mph during
the afternoon. Surface wind light and
variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Thursday and
Friday, December 25 and 26, 2025.
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For Thursday:
Coast Range
Zone 601 and 612
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. North of Tillamook in Zone 601, use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 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 8 miles apart, south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Zone 615, 616,
618, 619, and 620
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Avoid burning directly upwind of the North Bend/Coos Bay SSRA.
Cascades
Zone 605 and 606
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 607, 608,
639, 610, 617, 620, 622, 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 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. Avoid ignitions north of T24S. South of T29S higher tonnage is possible -
call the forecaster.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
For Friday:
Coast Range
All Zones
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Cascades
Zone 605, 606,
607, 608, 639, 610, 617, 620, 622, 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
1500 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs. Avoid ignitions north of T24S. South of T29S higher tonnage is possible -
call the forecaster.
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.