SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
March 17, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
*********************************************************************
A substantial degrade in the forecast products used by
Oregon Department of Forestry meteorologists will cause longer wait-times to
return calls to the forecast line.
Forecasts and instructions may be delayed due to the decline in data.
*********************************************************************
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
Upper-level ridging will continue to
bring stable conditions with lower mixing heights and light winds. Flow aloft will be from SW with the ridge
over the Southwest US. Showers stay to
the north on Wednesday with mostly sunny skies.
Winds will come from S-W, lighter for southern zones. Temperatures will be well above
seasonable. Mixing heights will be suppressed.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
The weather stays nearly the same on
Thursday with showers remaining north of the region. The ridge will be over the Southwest US with
SW flow aloft for Oregon. Surface winds
will be mostly light from S-WSW.
Transport winds are expected from SSW-SW. Temperatures will be well above average. Mixing heights will be low.
By Friday, the
upper-level ridge will start to lessen impacts on the region. Temperatures will cool some though staying above
average. Winds will come from SSW-NW,
mostly light. Mixing heights will generally
stay fair.
Saturday could have
a few showers north. Flow aloft will
come from W as the upper-level ridge shifts east. Winds will turn to
come from NW-N. Temperatures will be
closer to seasonable. Mixing heights will
improve.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 1000 - 2000 ft by late morning.
Transport wind S
to SW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind SSE
to SSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SSW to SW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind S to
SW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to S to SW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 9 - 15 mph.
Surface wind SSW
to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
2300 - 3300 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to SW to W at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1000 - 1700 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
light and variable but favors SW-W and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SW-W and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
increases to SSW to WSW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
becomes light and variable but favors SW-W and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind similar to afternoon.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1500 to 2500 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind S to SW at 6 -
10 mph during the morning becoming SSW to SW at 10 - 18 mph during the
afternoon. Surface wind light and
variable during the morning becoming SSW to WSW at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
FRIDAY
In the Coast
Range mixing height below 1000 ft during the morning rising to 1400 to 2400 ft
during the afternoon. In the Cascades
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1200 to 2200 ft by late morning
rising to 2200 to 3200 ft during the afternoon.
Transport wind S to SW at 6 - 10 mph during the morning
becoming SW to W at 8 - 12 mph during the afternoon. Surface wind light and variable during the
morning becoming SW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph during the afternoon.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2500 to 3500 ft by late morning rising to 3400 to
4400 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind S to SW at 6 - 10 mph during the morning becoming NW to NNW at 10 - 16 mph
during the afternoon. Surface wind NW to
N at 4 - 8 mph.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday, March
18, 2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601, 612,
615, and 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
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 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. From T18S through T22S in
Zone 608 units should be 900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart.
Zone 611
Units should be
900 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.