SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Tuesday,
May 5, 2026
2:30 PM Gary Votaw
1. DISCUSSION AND
FORECAST FOR THE WESTERN OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
SHORT-TERM
DISCUSSION
An
overhead upper ridge controls the weather.
Morning clouds on Wednesday will break, becoming sunny and very warm, 10-15oF
above seasonal. Burning potential is poor
in the Coast Range but good for the Cascades with light SW-NW winds.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
The
ridge remains Thursday for mostly sunny and very warm again. Mixing will generally become good in the
afternoon and winds very light, favoring SW-W.
A
weak trough arrives on Friday but only to slightly cool the region.
Skies will be partly sunny north and sunny south. Burning opportunities become mostly good in
afternoon with light W-NW winds.
The ridge once again rebounds by Saturday with sunny and
very warm conditions, and continuing Sunday.
Mixing becomes good in the afternoons with NW-N winds.
2. DISPERSION
WEDNESDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1200 - 2200 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to NW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1600 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 10 - 18 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 6 - 12 mph.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1800 - 2800 ft.
Transport wind SW
to WNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising to 3400 - 4400 ft.
Transport wind
WSW to WNW at 10 - 16 mph.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 1900 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to SW to WNW at 5 - 9 mph.
Surface wind
increases to WSW to WNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 615-620
(South Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1400 - 2400 ft.
Transport wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1700 - 2700 ft.
Transport wind
increases to W to NW at 6 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
increases to W to NW at 6 - 10 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Surface wind
becomes light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
Zone 616-623
(South Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height below
1000 ft early rising to 1900 - 2900 ft.
Transport wind SW
to W at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
rising above 5000 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind similar to morning.
EVENING
Mixing height
2700 - 3700 ft.
Transport wind
WNW to NW at 8 - 14 mph.
Surface wind
increases to WNW to NNW at 5 - 9 mph.
OUTLOOK:
THURSDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 2200 to 3200 ft by late morning
rising to 3400 to 4400 ft during the afternoon.
In the south mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1000 to 2000 ft
by late morning rising to 4000 to 5000 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind SW to W at 4 - 8 mph. Surface wind light and variable.
FRIDAY
In the north
mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1100 to 2100 ft by late morning
rising to 3600 to 4600 ft during the afternoon.
In the south mixing height below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 to 2800 ft
by late morning rising to 3500 to 4500 ft during the afternoon. Transport wind WSW
to WNW at 5 - 9 mph. Surface wind light
and variable during the morning becoming W to NW at 5 - 9 mph during the
afternoon.
SATURDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 2000 to 3000 ft by late morning rising to 3500 to
4500 ft during the afternoon. Transport
wind light and variable during the morning becoming NNW to NNE at 5 - 9 mph
during the afternoon. Surface wind light
and variable during the morning becoming WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph during the
afternoon.
3. BURNING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Wednesday, May 6,
2026.
=================================================================
Coast Range
Zone 601, 612,
and 616 east of R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 602 and 603
No burning
allowed. Higher tonnage is possible
south of the Siuslaw River in Zone 603.
Call the forecaster.
Zone 615 and 616
west of R8W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 618 and 619
Units should be
1200 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Cascades
All zones except
Zone 610 and 611
Use standard
guidance matrix - see section 5 below.
Ensure adequate distance from downwind SSRAs for smoke to
dissipate. From T15S through T20S in
Zone 608 units should be 900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart.
Zone 610 and 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Siskiyous
Units should be
1500 tons or less, spaced 3 miles apart, and 5 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.