SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Thursday,
March 26, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
Upper-level ridging will build with SW flow aloft on Friday. The weather will be dry with partly sunny
skies. Temperatures will rise well above
seasonable and mixing heights will be suppressed with warmer air aloft. Winds for coastal zones will be from N-E, lighter
south. For the Cascades zones, winds
will come from ESE-SSE.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
The weekend will be dry with SW flow
aloft and upper-level ridging. On
Saturday, winds will be light on the coast from NNW-N and from SW-W for the
Cascades. Temperatures will be above
average. Mixing heights will be fair for
most.
An upper-level trough
will be far offshore Sunday with SW flow aloft.
Surface winds will be onshore and transport winds will come from
SW. Above seasonable temperatures will
come with fair to good mixing heights.
The upper-level trough
moves north of the region on Monday with another system following it. Rain and mountain snow will increase. Winds will be onshore with near average
temperatures. Mixing heights will gradually
improve. More rain is expected midweek.
2. DISPERSION
FRIDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1300 - 2300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind N
to NE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors N-NE and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
NNW to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
ESE to SSE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2100 - 3100 ft.
Transport wind
ESE to S at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
ENE to ESE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors N-E and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
increases to NNW to NNE at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
SATURDAY
Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1600 to 2600 ft by late
morning rising to 2600 to 3600 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind light and variable during the
morning becoming SW to W at 6 - 10 mph during the afternoon. Surface wind light and variable.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1900 to 2900 ft by late morning rising to 3000 to
4000 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SSW to WSW at 6 - 12 mph. Surface
wind light and variable during the morning becoming SW to W at 4 - 8 mph during
the afternoon.
MONDAY
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 SSW to WSW at 8 - 12 mph during the morning becoming SSW to SW at 10 - 20
mph during the afternoon. Surface wind
light and variable during the morning becoming SW to W at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Friday, March 27,
2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601, 602,
603, 612, 618, and 619
Use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Avoid burning directly upwind of coastal SSRAs.
Zone 615 and 616
west of R8W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Cascades
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 605, 606,
620, and 622
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 607, 608,
611, and 617
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 639, 610,
and 623
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to dissipate.
Zone 616
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m.***
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 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.