SMOKE MANAGEMENT
FORECAST AND INSTRUCTIONS
SALEM FORESTRY
WEATHER CENTER
OREGON DEPARTMENT
OF FORESTRY
ISSUED: Thursday,
March 19, 2026
2:30 PM Sherri Pugh
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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 THE WESTERN
OREGON AREA FORECAST ZONES 601-623 and 639
Friday will be the last day with
upper-level ridge influence as the system shifts east with SW flow aloft for
Oregon. The region stays dry most of the
day with a few showers north increasing late.
Light surface winds will be onshore.
Transport winds will come from SW-NW.
Temperatures will be well-above average.
Mixing heights will be suppressed.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION
Showers linger early on Saturday with
a cold front passage. A weak upper-level
trough will move through with W flow aloft.
Winds will turn to come from WNW-N. Temperatures will cool some to near or just
above seasonable. Mixing heights will
gradually improve.
Sunday will be dry
with W flow aloft. Surface winds will be
light from N and variable at times.
Transport winds will be from N on the coast and lighter from S-W for
locations east of the Cascades.
Temperatures will be near or above average. Mixing heights will be fair to good.
Dry weather lasts into Monday. Winds will
be onshore but more light and variable. Mixing heights will be mostly good. Rain and unstable weather arrive for midweek.
2. DISPERSION
FRIDAY
Zone 601, 602,
603 and 612 (North Coast Range):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1500 - 2500 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 8 - 12 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors SSW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1700 - 2700 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to SW to W at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind
shifts to W to NW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
shifts to WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 605-611 and
639 (North Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 2300 - 3300 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
2700 - 3700 ft.
Transport wind
SSW to WSW at 10 - 22 mph.
Surface wind SW
to W at 6 - 10 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
1000 - 2000 ft.
Transport wind
decreases to WSW to WNW at 6 - 10 mph.
Surface wind
shifts to W to NW at 4 - 8 mph.
Zone 615-623
(South Coast Range and Cascades):
MORNING
Mixing height
below 300 ft early rising to 1300 - 2300 ft by late morning.
Transport wind
WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind
light and variable but favors WNW-NW and controlled by local terrain.
AFTERNOON
Mixing height
1500 - 2500 ft.
Transport wind similar to morning.
Surface wind
increases to WNW to NNW at 4 - 8 mph.
EVENING
Mixing height
lowers below 1000 ft.
Transport wind similar to afternoon.
Surface wind NW
to N at 4 - 8 mph.
OUTLOOK:
SATURDAY
Mixing height
1600 to 2600 ft during the morning rising to 2300 to 3300 ft during the
afternoon. Transport wind WNW to NNW at
8 - 12 mph. Surface wind WNW to NNW at 4
- 8 mph.
SUNDAY
Mixing height
below 1000 ft early rising to 1800 to 2800 ft by late morning and through the
afternoon. Transport wind NE to E at 4 - 8 mph.
Surface wind light and variable.
MONDAY
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.
3. BURNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL ZONES IN THE
WESTERN OREGON AREA
- Valid for burning done Friday, March 20,
2026.
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Coast Range
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 601
Units should be
500 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
No burning
allowed. 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 615 and 616
west of R8W
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 616 east of
R9W
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 618
Use standard
guidance matrix. (See section 5 below.)
Zone 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. Higher tonnage is possible south of
T35S. Call the forecaster.
Cascades
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m. in all zones.***
Zone 605, 606,
607, 608, 639, 610, 616, 617, and 623
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 8 miles apart.
Zone 611
Units should be
900 tons or less, spaced 8 miles apart, and 10 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 620
Units should be
300 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs.
Zone 622
Units should be
600 tons or less, spaced 12 miles apart, and 12 miles from downwind SSRAs. East of R2W, use standard guidance matrix -
see section 5 below.
Siskiyous
***Avoid
ignitions before 11 a.m.***
Units should be
1200 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.