SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
November 18, 2025 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 “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
An
upper-level ridge will be over the region on Wednesday. Areas of morning low clouds and fog break to
a partly sunny day with near average temperatures. An approaching trough will increase the
clouds late with a chance of rain, becoming more likely into the evening. The ridge causes poor mixing in the north
through the afternoon with offshore winds.
Southern zones will see fair mixing conditions with mainly S winds. By Wednesday night and early Thursday most of
West Oregon will see .10” or less of moisture but the South Coast Range may
exceed .25” with a snow level around 5000 feet.
Rain tapers off
Thursday as the trough moves onshore, but most of the trough breaks off and moves
into California. The trough will hang on
to cause enough onshore flow for much improved burning conditions into the
afternoon and SW-WSW transport winds.
A ridge returns to
West Oregon by Thursday night and into Friday, causing poor burning potential
with light and variable winds through Friday afternoon. Skies will be partly to mostly sunny while
temperatures remain near seasonal.
The
ridge maintains its grip on most of the area Saturday to greatly limit mixing
potential again. The North Coast Range
may be an exception where onshore flow may be enough to create good mixing with
a chance of light rain. Winds throughout
the area will be light and variable.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
ENE to ESE at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1000 - 1700 ft.
Transport wind E
to ESE at 10 - 18 mph.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to E to SE at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind E
to SE at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1100 - 2100 ft.
Transport wind SE
to S at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
ESE to SSE at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft.
Transport wind SE
to SSW at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SSE to SSW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind SE
to SSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
increases to SSE to SSW at 5 - 9 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1600 ft.
Transport wind SE
to S at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
ESE to S at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
In the Coast
Range mixing height 4100 to 5000 ft during the morning rising above 5000 ft
during the afternoon. In the Cascades
mixing height 3000 to 4000 ft during the morning rising above 5000 ft during
the afternoon. Transport wind SW to WSW
at 8 - 12 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1300 to 2300 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind light and
variable. Surface wind light and
variable.
SATURDAY
In the North
Coast Range mixing height 2000 to 3000 ft rising to 3500 to 4500 ft in the
afternoon. Elsewhere, mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1600 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 19, 2025.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601, 602,
603, 612, 615, 616 west of R8W, 618, 619, and 620
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Avoid burning directly upwind of coastal SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S in
Zone 616 - call the forecaster.
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.***
Zone 605 and 606
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 607, 608,
and 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 639, 610,
617, and 623
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Zone 616
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Avoid ignitions north of T24S. South of T29S higher tonnage is possible -
call the forecaster.
Zone 620 and 622
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m.***
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
==============================================================
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.