SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
December 9, 2025 2:30 PM Gary Votaw
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* Special Protection Zone
(SPZ) provisions apply from November 15 through February
15. Prescribed burning is not allowed in an SPZ from December 1
through February 15 on days when the daily woodstove “Ordinance” is either
“Red,” “Exempt Wood Burning Device,” or “No Burning Period.” Burning
is allowed inside of SPZs all other days, but please use extra precautions and
limit forestland burning to units that will not worsen air quality within
nearby SSRAs. *
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1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
SHORT-TERM
DISCUSSION
The atmospheric river
stream that has given NW Oregon heavy rain is beginning to move northward in
response to a ridge trying to build.
Additional rain across the northern mountains on Wednesday will be mainly
.50” to 1.00” and the snow level continues over 8000 feet. Look for partly to mostly sunny skies in the
south but otherwise dry. The warm air
aloft is causing mixing to be poor to fair with mainly SW winds.
The
ridge will continue to slowly build Thursday with precipitation tapering
off. Rainfall potential in the far
northern mountains is .10” to .25” under mostly cloudy skies. The south will be sunny except for areas of
morning fog. Mixing potential is
generally poor with S-SW winds.
Friday
will be the driest day of the week and there is only a slight chance of rain in
the far northern mountains. Otherwise,
the warm ridge causes skies to range from mostly cloudy in the far north to
sunny south, after the morning fog.
Mixing is still poor but winds light and variable.
On Saturday the ridge will begin to move east in response to
an approaching trough. Up to .10” of
rain is possible for the Coast Range and North Cascades while the snow level is
still around 7000 feet. However, poor
mixing continues with light and variable wind.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 18 - 30 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to SW at 10 - 16 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1600 - 2600 ft.
Transport wind
similar to morning.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 14 - 28 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to SW at 8 - 14 mph.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind SW
at 18 - 32 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to SW at 10 - 18 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1900 - 2900 ft.
Transport wind
similar to morning.
Surface wind
similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 18 - 30 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 10 - 18 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1600 - 2600 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to W at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1700 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 5 - 9 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1300 - 2300 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 6 - 10 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1600 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1600 to 2600 ft by late morning and
through the afternoon. In the south
mixing height below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1700 ft during
the afternoon. Transport wind S to SW at
8 - 14 mph. Surface wind S to SW at 5 -
9 mph during the morning becoming light and variable during the afternoon.
FRIDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1400 to 2400 ft by late morning and
through the afternoon. In the south
mixing height below 1000 ft throughout the day.
Transport wind light and variable.
Surface wind light and variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height at
or below 1000 ft throughout the day.
Transport wind light and variable.
Surface wind light and variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday,
December 10, 2025.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind
SSRAs. North of Tillamook, use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
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 900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, south of the
Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Zone 612, 615,
and 616 west of R8W
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind
SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south
of T29S in Zone 616 - call the forecaster.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
900 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, 619,
and 620
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. South of T35S in Zone 620
units should be 750 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from
downwind SSRAs.
Cascades
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
All zones except
zone 611
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. Avoid ignitions north of T24S
in Zone 616.
Zone 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 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.