SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Monday,
February 9, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR NORTHEAST
FORECAST AREA ZONES 637-646
Tuesday will be dry with mid to high
level clouds. An upper-level trough will
be offshore with light SSW flow aloft. After
spotty fog and morning inversions, mixing heights will be good with freezing
levels near 4000 feet Winds will come
from ESE-SE. Temperatures will be near seasonable.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
The upper-level trough moves inland on
Wednesday. Most mountain snow showers
will stay south of the region. Winds
will be light and variable. Freezing
levels increase some to 4-5000 feet and mixing heights will be fair.
Thursday turns dry as upper-level
troughing moves east and ridging moves inland.
Light surface winds will be from SW-W and transport winds will come from
W-WNW. Mixing heights will be fair to
good.
Friday stays dry ahead of a more unsettled
weekend. Flow aloft will begin to
increase from WSW. Surface winds will be
from S-SW and lighter in northeastern zones.
Transport winds will come from SSW-SW.
Mixing heights will be good.
Mountain snow will increase over the weekend.
2. DISPERSION
TUESDAY
Zone 640, 642,
and 644 West of R35E:
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning. Afternoon mixing height rises to 2300 - 3300
ft then lowers below 1000 ft during the evening.
Transport wind
ESE to SSE at 6 - 10 mph during the morning.
Transport wind increases to ESE to SSE at 9 - 15 mph during the
afternoon then decreases to E to SE at 6 - 10 mph during the evening.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain during the morning. Surface wind increases to ESE to SSE at 4 - 8
mph during the afternoon then shifts to ENE to ESE at 4 - 8 mph during the
evening.
Zone 637, 643,
645, 646, and 644 East of R34E:
Mixing height
below 500 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning. Afternoon mixing height rises to 2000 - 3000
ft then lowers below 1000 ft during the evening.
Transport wind
ESE to SSE at 6 - 10 mph during the morning and afternoon. Transport wind decreases to ESE to SSE at 4 -
8 mph during the evening.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain during the morning. Surface wind increases to ESE to SSE at 4 - 8
mph during the afternoon and evening.
OUTLOOK:
WEDNESDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1900 to 2900 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind light and
variable. Surface wind light and
variable.
THURSDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 2000 ft by late morning rising to 2500 to
3500 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph. Surface
wind light and variable during the morning becoming WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph
during the afternoon.
FRIDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 2000 ft by late morning rising to 2500 to
3500 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind S to SW at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind
light and variable during the morning becoming SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph during
the afternoon.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR NORTHEAST OREGON
ZONES 637-646
- Valid for burning done Tuesday, February
10, 2026.
==================================================================
Zone 640, 642,
and 644 West of R35E:
Delay
ignitions until 10 a.m. Follow
standard guidance matrix - see section 5 below - for burning units to the E
through SSE of SSRAs. For units that
will smolder significantly through the night avoid burning within at least 30
miles to the NNE through SSE in or near drainages leading to SSRAs. Complete ignitions by 3:30 p.m. No
additional restrictions necessary.
Zone 637, 643,
645, 646, and 644 East of R34E:
Delay
ignitions until 10 a.m. Follow
standard guidance matrix - see section 5 below - for burning units to the E
through SSE of SSRAs. For units that
will smolder significantly through the night avoid burning within at least 30
miles to the ENE through SSE in or near drainages leading to SSRAs. Complete ignitions by 3:30 p.m. No
additional restrictions necessary.
=========================================================
4. SPECIAL NOTE:
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
The smoke management forecaster is
available at (503)-
945-7401. Please call this number and not
individual's
numbers to discuss daily burning. For large burns (over
2000 tons) or burns extending over a
considerable period,
please request a
special forecast. Avoid calling
between 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.
http://www.odf.state.or.us/DIVISIONS/protection/fire_protection/
Daily/neo.htm
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the
email list for this
product, please go to the link:
http://weather.smkmgt.com/mailman/listinfo/
Please ensure your units have been planned
and accomplished by
checking:
http://oregon.gov/ODF/FIRE/SMP/dailysmoke.shtml
A map of planned and/or accomplished burns
is located at:
http://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html
?id=a7e321dc8fc444b7a33fbc67bc673a3b
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.
* 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.