SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Monday,
May 11, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
Above seasonable temperatures are expected
for Tuesday with S flow aloft and upper-level ridging. Some showers and thunderstorms could develop along
the Cascades late. Winds will come from
S-W. Mixing heights will be fair to poor
on the coast and mostly good inland.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
An upper-level low
offshore will move inland on Wednesday with increasing potential for
showers. Winds will be from SW-W, stronger
for transport winds. Temperatures will
drop to near seasonable. Mixing heights
will improve across the region.
Thursday will have a
few isolated showers and stay dry for most.
Flow aloft will be from W as upper-level
troughing weakens and shifts east with broad ridging for the region. Winds will be from W-N. Near average temperatures will come with decreased
mixing heights on the coast and good mixing inland.
Showers increase on
Friday with SW flow aloft and broad upper-level troughing just to the
north. Winds will be onshore and
temperatures decrease to near or below average.
Mixing heights will be good.
2. DISPERSION
TUESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603, 612 and 615-620 (North and South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2300 - 3300 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to SW to W at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 605-611, 639
and 616-623 (North and South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 2000 - 3000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2500 - 3500 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
WEDNESDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2100 to 3100 ft by late morning rising to 3500 to
4500 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SW to W at 8 - 12 mph during the morning becoming WSW to W at 14 - 24 mph
during the afternoon. Surface wind light
and variable during the morning becoming SW to W at 5 - 9 mph during the
afternoon.
THURSDAY
Mixing height
1800 to 2800 ft during the morning rising to 2900 to 3900 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind W to NW at 4 -
8 mph. Surface wind light and variable
during the morning becoming WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph during the afternoon.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2600 to 3600 ft by late morning rising to 3200 to
4200 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SW to W at 10 - 16 mph during the morning becoming WSW to WNW at 12 - 22
mph during the afternoon. Surface wind
light and variable during the morning becoming WSW to WNW at 6 - 10 mph during
the afternoon.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Tuesday, May 12,
2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601, 612,
615, 616 west of R8W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. North of Tillamook in Zone 601, use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.) Higher
tonnage is possible south of T29S in Zone 616.
Call the forecaster.
Zone 602 and 603
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. North of T3N in Zone 602, use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Units may be 500 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of
T29S. Call the forecaster.
Zone 618
Use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Zone 619 and 620
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind
SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south
of T35S in Zone 620. 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. Verify transport winds away
from SSRA if burning within 10 miles of the SSRA in Zone 605 and 606. 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.