SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Thursday,
February 12, 2026
2:30 PM Pete Parsons
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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
SHORT-TERM DISCUSSION
Increasing WSW flow aloft pushes the first in a series of
Pacific weather systems onshore Friday. Clouds
increase across all zones with rain pushing onto the north coast in the morning
then slowly advancing across the NW zones, during the afternoon. Rainfall totals may reach .50” across the extreme
NW zones, while SW and eastern zones stay dry.
Mixing improves, mainly north, with developing SW transport winds. Snow levels lower to near 4000 feet north and
5000 feet south late.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Saturday, the main energy from an incoming Pacific storm
slides southward, offshore, but considerable clouds and areas of light
precipitation spread over all zones. Some NW sites could exceed .25” of
rain. Spotty light rain may make it into
SW and central Oregon. Snow levels drop
to near 3500 feet north and 4500 feet south with near-average temperatures. Mixing continues to improve with NE winds developing
across the NW zones and SE-SW winds elsewhere.
Sunday, a slow-moving weather system approaches the coast, with
the jet stream directing most of the energy into California. Skies remain cloudy with areas of light rain
and mountain snow, mainly south. Mixing
improves considerably across the southern zones. NW zones may have light north winds, but
other areas should have SE winds. Temperatures
remain near average with little change in snow levels.
An upper-level trough, centered just offshore, strengthens
on Monday, in response to another weather system dropping into in from the Gulf
of Alaska. Rain and snow increase across
all zones, as a cold front pushes across the region. Expect precipitation totals near .50” in the west
and .10” in central Oregon. Snow levels
drop to 3-4000 feet with significant snow over the Cascade passes. Mixing becomes excellent with SE-S winds
ahead of the cold front and W-NW winds in its wake.
2. DISPERSION
FRIDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind SE
to S at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 605-611, 639
and 616-623 (North and South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind S to
SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 2000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE to S and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
increases to S to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1300 to 2300 ft by late morning rising to 2500 to
3500 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind light and variable during the morning becoming E to SSE at 6 - 12 mph
during the afternoon. Surface wind light
and variable during the morning becoming E to SE at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
1400 to 2400 ft during the morning rising to 3100 to 4100 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind ESE to S at 4
- 8 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
MONDAY
Mixing height
1900 to 2900 ft during the morning rising above 5000 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind ENE to ESE at
4 - 8 mph during the morning becoming S to SW at 6 - 10 mph during the
afternoon. Surface wind light and
variable during the morning becoming SSW to WSW at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
3. BURNING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Friday, February
13, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.
Complete ignitions by 3:30 p.m. in all zones.***
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
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 3:30 p.m. in all zones.***
All zones except
zone 611
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.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. Complete ignitions by 3:30 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.