SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
February 17, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
The dry and warm weather of last week
continues a transformation to cool, showery conditions with mountain snow. An upper-level trough over the region will
bring rounds of surface systems and additional precipitation. Rain on Wednesday will range from 0.10-0.25”. Freezing levels will be down to 1500 feet and
lower at times. Winds will come from
SSW-WSW. Mixing heights will be high.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Thursday will have scattered showers
and mountain snow with upper-level troughing.
Winds will turn to come from NW-N, light at the surface. Snow levels stay at 1500 feet and lower. Mixing heights will be good.
Friday will have some break in precipitation
other than a few showers far north. An
upper-level level low will be offshore for several days. Freezing levels will rise some to 2-3000 feet
and mixing heights will lower some.
Light surface winds will be from SSE-SW while transport winds come from
S-SW.
Most rain will stay
offshore on Saturday with the upper-level low to the west. Freezing levels will rise to near 4000 feet
and mixing heights will be fair north and good south. Surface winds will turn to be offshore. Transport winds will come from SE-S. Rain and mountain snow move inland for Sunday.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 800 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WSW to WNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 2000 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 800 ft early rising to 3500 - 4500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WSW to WNW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind SW
to W at 6 - 10 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to S to SW at 9 - 15 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 2300 - 3300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3500 - 4500 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 800 ft early rising to 3500 - 4500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind SW
to W at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors S-SSW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
increases to S to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable but favors S-SSW and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2400 to 3400 ft by late morning rising to 3400 to
4400 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph during the morning becoming NW to N at 6 - 10 mph
during the afternoon. Surface wind light
and variable.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 to 2800 ft by late morning rising to 2900 to
3900 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind S to SW at 6 - 10 mph. Surface wind
light and variable during the morning becoming SSE to SW at 4 - 8 mph during
the afternoon.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2000 to 3000 ft by late morning rising to 2800 to
3800 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind ESE to SSE at 10 - 18 mph. Surface
wind E to SE at 4 - 8 mph.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday,
February 18, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
Zone 601 and 612
Units should be
1000 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
500 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603 - call the forecaster.
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. South of T35S in Zone 620 units should be 750
tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Cascades
All zones except
Zone 610 and 611
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. From T15S through T20S in
Zone 608 units should be 1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart.
Zone 610
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 611
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 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.