SMOKE MANAGEMENT FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS

SALEM FORESTRY WEATHER CENTER

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY

ISSUED: Monday, March 23, 2026 2:30 PM Gary Votaw

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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.

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1. DISCUSSION AND FORECAST FOR NORTHEAST FORECAST AREA ZONES 637-646

SHORT-TERM DISCUSSION

Flow aloft turns SW on Tuesday ahead of an upper trough approaching the coast. Skies will be mostly cloudy but temperatures nonetheless climb 10^oF above normal. Rain showers, mainly in mountains, will provide up to .10” of moisture. Good burning potential is expected in the afternoon. Transport winds will be SW and quite strong in the west while eastern zones will see weaker S transport winds.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION

A cold front passes through the area on Wednesday while the upper trough reaches the coast late. Showers may provide another .10” of moisture while the snow level falls to around 5000 feet and temperatures become average again. The afternoon will have good mixing conditions with W-NW winds.

Skies become sunny on Thursday under west flow aloft but temperatures below seasonal levels. Mixing heights will again become good with light NW-N transport winds.

A ridge builds on Friday to cause sunny and warm conditions, 10^oF above seasonal. The ridge begins to limit mixing heights in light SE winds.

2. DISPERSION

TUESDAY

Zone 640, 642, and 644 West of R35E:

Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 2300 - 3300 ft during the morning. Mixing height rises to above 5000 ft during the afternoon then lowers to 1300 - 2300 ft during the evening.

Transport wind SSW to SW at 18 - 30 mph during the morning. Transport wind increases to SW to WSW at 26 - 46 mph during the afternoon then decreases to SW to WSW at 15 - 25 mph during the evening.

Surface wind SSE to SSW at 4 - 8 mph during the morning. Surface wind increases to SSW to WSW at 9 - 15 mph during the afternoon then decreases to SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph during the evening.

Zone 637, 643, 645, 646, and 644 East of R34E:

Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 - 2800 ft during the morning. Afternoon mixing height rises to 3700 - 4700 ft then lowers to 1000 - 1700 ft during the evening.

Transport wind SSE to SSW at 10 - 20 mph during the morning and afternoon. Transport wind decreases to SSW to WSW at 6 - 10 mph during the evening.

Surface wind SE to SSW at 6 - 10 mph.

OUTLOOK:

WEDNESDAY

In the west mixing height 2600 to 3600 ft during the morning rising above 5000 ft during the afternoon. In the east mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 3800 to 4800 ft by late morning and through the afternoon. In the west transport wind WSW to W at 16 - 26 mph during the morning becoming WNW to NW at 18 - 30 mph during the afternoon. In the east transport wind W to NW at 10 - 18 mph. Surface wind SW to WNW at 5 - 9 mph during the morning becoming WNW to NW at 8 - 14 mph during the afternoon.

THURSDAY

Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 2000 to 3000 ft by late morning rising to 3700 to 4700 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind NW to N at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind light and variable.

FRIDAY

Mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 to 2800 ft by late morning rising to 2500 to 3500 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind ESE to SSE at 6 - 10 mph. Surface wind light and variable during the morning becoming ESE to SSE at 4 - 8 mph during the afternoon.

3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR NORTHEAST OREGON ZONES 637-646

- Valid for burning done Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Zone 640, 642, and 644 West of R35E:

Follow standard guidance matrix - see section 5 below - for burning units to the SSW through WSW of SSRAs. For units that will smolder significantly through the night avoid burning within at least 25 miles to the SSW through W in or near drainages leading to SSRAs. No additional restrictions necessary.

Zone 637, 643, 645, 646, and 644 East of R34E:

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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.