SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
March 10, 2026 2:30 PM Gary Votaw
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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
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Little change is expected Thursday or Friday. Rain, snow above 5500-6000 feet, continues in
the north with an additional 1.00” to 2.00” on each day for mountains. The
south continues mostly cloudy with areas of light rain and snow above 7000
feet. Burning conditions continue excellent in the north with SW
winds. Mixing heights will be slightly
lower in the south and winds mostly light and variable.
Drier NW flow aloft finally arrives on Saturday with a
ridge offshore. Up to .10” of rain and
mountain snow is expected. Skies will be
partly to mostly cloudy and temperatures near seasonal. Burning potential is still very good with
light NW-N winds.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
at 30 - 50 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 10 - 20 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
similar to morning.
Surface wind SW
to WSW at 12 - 24 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
remains above 5000 ft.
Transport wind
similar to afternoon.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WSW at 15 - 29 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 6 - 12 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
above 5000 ft.
Transport wind SW
at 20 - 36 mph.
Surface wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 10 - 20 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2800 - 3800 ft.
Transport wind
WSW at 26 - 46 mph.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
1900 - 2900 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 8 - 14 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3400 - 4400 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SW to WSW at 15 - 25 mph.
Surface wind SW
to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to SSW to WSW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind
similar to afternoon.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
1300 - 2300 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 4000 - 5000 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 10 - 20 mph.
Surface wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 5 - 9 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1700 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
In the north
mixing height 2500 to 3500 ft in the morning rising above 5000 ft in the
afternoon. In the south mixing height
1800 to 2800 ft during the morning rising to 2800 to 3800 ft during the
afternoon. In the north transport wind
SW at 18 - 28 mph becoming SW at 28 – 38 mph in the afternoon with surface wind
SW at 12 – 22 mph. In the south
transport wind light and variable.
Surface wind light and variable.
FRIDAY
In the north
mixing height 2500 to 3500 ft in the morning rising above 5000 ft in the
afternoon. In the south mixing height 2000
to 3000 ft during the morning rising to 2800 to 3800 ft during the afternoon. In the north transport wind SW at 28 – 38 mph
with surface wind SW at 12 – 22 mph. In
the south transport wind light and variable.
Surface wind light and variable.
SATURDAY
In the Coast
Range mixing height 3500 to 4500 ft during the morning rising to 4200 to 5000
ft during the afternoon. In the Cascades
mixing height 2400 to 3400 ft during the morning rising above 5000 ft during
the afternoon. Transport wind NW to N at
6 - 10 mph. Surface wind WNW to NNW at 4
- 8 mph during the morning becoming light and variable during the afternoon.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday, March
11, 2026.
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Coast Range
Zone 601 and 612
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
750 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 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 3 miles apart, south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Zone 615, 616
west of R8W, and 620
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S in
Zone 616. Call the forecaster. Higher tonnage is possible south of T35S in
Zone 620. Call the forecaster.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
750 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of
T29S. Call the forecaster.
Zone 618 and 619
Use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Cascades
All zones except
zone 611
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. From T18S through T22S in
Zone 608 units should be 1200 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart.
Zone 611
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 6 miles apart, and 8 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.