SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Thursday,
December 4, 2025
2:30 PM Pete Parsons
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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
A warm front is bringing light rain to the northern zones this
afternoon, with clouds extending into the southern zones, while mostly sunny
skies hold on near the California border.
Surface temperatures are near average, but freezing levels are above
8000 feet, which is creating poor mixing with generally light winds.
The upper-level ridge flattens enough on Friday to allow a cold
front to sag southward over the region and spread rain across all zones,
especially north. Snow levels only drop
to about 6000 feet north and stay above 7000 feet south. Rainfall over .25” is likely north with around
.10” south. Slight cooling aloft and
increasing SW winds will improve mixing.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Very little change in the weather pattern is projected for
Saturday and Sunday, as a flat upper-level ridge maintains a relatively mild NW
flow aloft and keeps a moist frontal system over the region. Expect light rain at times north and a chance
of rain south. Additional rainfall will be
generally around .25” north and .10” south.
Snow levels only drop to 5-6000 feet north and 6-7000 feet south, which
would support at least fair mixing with SW winds.
A stronger weather system will bring increasing rain and SW wind
on Monday afternoon, especially north.
Ahead of this system, snow levels should rise slightly but expect at
least fair daytime mixing. Rain may
become heavy across the north by Monday night and spread south all the way to
the California border.
2. DISPERSION
FRIDAY
Zone 601-612 and
639 (North Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 15 - 25 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to SW at 8 - 12 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2400 - 3400 ft.
Transport wind SW
at 18 - 32 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to SW at 10 - 18 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind SW
to W at 15 - 29 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 9 - 15 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 12 - 24 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 6 - 10 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2200 - 3200 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind SW
to W at 10 - 20 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 6 - 12 mph.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 - 1700 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WSW at 8 - 14 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
SATURDAY
Mixing height
1400 to 2400 ft throughout the day.
Transport wind SW to W at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1400 to 2400 ft by late morning rising to 2200 to
3200 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind SSW to SW at 10 - 20 mph. Surface
wind SSE to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
MONDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1700 to 2700 ft by late morning rising to 2400 to
3400 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind SSW to SW at 10 - 20 mph during the morning
becoming SSW to SW at 15 - 25 mph during the afternoon. Surface wind SSE to SW at 6 - 12 mph.
3. BURNING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Friday, December
5, 2025.
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Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601
Units should be
1000 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 and 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 in
Zone 616 - call the forecaster.
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.
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.
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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.