SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
January 27, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
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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
A front moves through tonight through
early Wednesday with the first round of widespread precipitation in several
days. Rainfall amounts will stay under
0.10”. Broad upper-level ridging follows
with another front arriving Wednesday night.
Winds will come from S-SW, light at the surface. Mixing heights will improve to fair to good
with seasonable temperatures.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Thursday will start with showers. Rainfall will reach up to 0.25” in northern
zones with drier weather south. Upper-level
ridging will warm the air aloft some and lower mixing heights. Light surface winds will be from SSE-S. Transport winds will come from S-SW. Temperatures will rise above average.
A few showers are possible in northern
zones on Friday with a system moving north of upper-level ridging. Temperatures will climb well above
average. Winds will come from S-SW, stronger
on the coast. Mixing heights will be
fair at best.
Saturday will be mostly dry with SW
flow aloft. Surface winds will be light
and offshore. Transport winds will come
from SE-S. Temperatures will again rise
well above seasonable. Mixing heights
will be suppressed.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603, 612 and 615-620 (North and South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1700 - 2700 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to SW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
SSE to SSW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind ESE
to S at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 605-611, 639
and 616-623 (North and South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 1000 ft.
Transport wind S
to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SSE-SSW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 2000 - 3000 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind
increases to S to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to S to SW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable but favors SSE-SSW and controlled by local terrain.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1200 to 2200 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind S to SW at 8 -
12 mph. Surface wind light and variable
during the morning becoming SE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph during the afternoon.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 2000 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind SSE to SSW at
8 - 12 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1000 to 1600 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind ESE to SSE at
4 - 8 mph. Surface wind light and
variable.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday, January
28, 2026.
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Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.
Complete ignitions by 3 p.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
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
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 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. Higher tonnage is possible south of T29S -
call the forecaster.
Cascades
***Avoid
ignitions before 10 a.m. in all zones.
Complete ignitions by 3 p.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. From T18S through T22S in
Zone 608 units should be 900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart. 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. Complete ignitions by 3 p.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.