SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Thursday,
February 19, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
Brief upper-level ridging takes hold
for Friday with a few showers north but mostly dry weather. Winds will turn to come from SSE-SW at the
surface and mostly light. Transport
winds will be from S-SSW. Temperatures
will be below seasonable. Freezing
levels will increase to 3000 feet and mixing heights will continue good.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Flow aloft will come from SW with an
upper-level trough far offshore on Saturday.
A few showers will move inland, mostly north. Winds will come from SE-S with brisk
transport winds. Freezing levels rise to
near 4000 feet. Mixing heights will
lower some but stay mostly good.
Rain moves inland on Sunday as the
upper-level trough moves closer to shore with strong SW winds aloft. Temperatures will be seasonable. Surface winds will come from SE-SSE and brisk
transport winds will be from S. Mixing
heights will be fair to good with snow levels near 4000 feet.
Monday will have
rain and strong SW flow aloft. Snow
levels increase to 5-6000 feet and mixing heights will be fair to good. Winds will come from S-SW with variable
direction for surface winds at times.
Showers lessen into midweek.
2. DISPERSION
FRIDAY
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
SSW to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE-S and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2800 - 3800 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
increases to SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable but favors SE-S 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
SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors S-WSW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 2500 - 3500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SE-SSE and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2800 - 3800 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1500 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to SE to S at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable but favors SE-SSE and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1900 to 2900 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind SE to S at 10
- 18 mph during the morning becoming SE to S at 15 - 25 mph during the
afternoon. Surface wind ESE to SSE at 4
- 8 mph.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2500 to 3500 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind SSE to SSW at
13 - 25 mph. Surface wind ESE to SSE at
4 - 8 mph.
MONDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2500 to 3500 ft by late morning rising to 3200 to
4200 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind S to SW at 10 - 20 mph. Surface
wind SE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Friday, February
20, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
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 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S -
call the forecaster.
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 900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart. Avoid ignitions north of T24S in Zone 616.
Zone 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
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.