SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
February 24, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
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A
substantial degrade in the forecast products used by Oregon Department of
Forestry meteorologists will cause longer wait-times to return calls to the
forecast line. Forecasts and
instructions may be delayed due to the decline in data.
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1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
SHORT-TERM DISCUSSION
Chances for showers and mountain snow
increase through the weekend and next week.
An upper-level ridge will shift away from the region with lessening
impacts while a trough sits offshore with SW flow aloft for the region. Showers will stay mostly north with mid to high level clouds.
Mixing heights will improve with freezing levels at 5-6000 feet. Winds will be breezy from S-SSW with
seasonable temperatures.
Sunday will have a few showers but stay mostly dry.
Freezing levels will drop to near 4-5000 feet and mixing heights will be
good. Winds are expected from SSE-S with
strong transport winds.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Showers and mountain snow increase through the day Monday.
Rainfall amounts could reach up to 0.10”. Flow aloft will be from S with an upper-level
trough offshore. Winds will come from
S-SSW. Snow levels decrease to near 4000
feet and mixing heights will be good.
Mountain snow and rain are likely on
Monday with snow levels dropping under 3000 feet. Winds will be from SSW-SW and temperatures
sink below average. Mixing heights will
be excellent. Rounds of rain and snow
last through the week.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
500 ft early rising to 2000 - 3000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
light and variable but favors NNW-N and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors NNW-NNE and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3300 - 4300 ft.
Transport wind
increases to WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable but favors NNW-NNE and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 2300 - 3300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind W
to NW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind W to
NW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind W
to NW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind becomes
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 800 ft early rising to 2000 - 3000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
light and variable but favors WNW-N and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors NW-N and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3000 - 4000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to NNW to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
increases to N to NE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind N to
NE at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 800 ft early rising to 2000 - 3000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind W
to NW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors NW-N and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to NNW to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1200 to 2200 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind light and
variable. Surface wind light and
variable.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 1900 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind N to NE at 4 -
8 mph. Surface wind light and variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 2000 ft by late morning rising to 1800 to
2800 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph. Surface
wind light and variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday,
February 25, 2026.
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Coast Range
Zone 601 and 612
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of Waldport
in Zone 612 - call the forecaster.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
500 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of the Siuslaw
River in Zone 603 - call the forecaster.
Zone 615 and 616
west of R8W
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 618 and 619
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Zone 620
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
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 and 622
Units should be
1200 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.
Zone 620
Units should be
750 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below. Ensure adequate distance from downwind
SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
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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.