Is today a burn day?

Is Today a Burn Day?

Today is Friday, August 7th, 2009. The upper-level low pressure center, that brought cloudy and much cooler weather to western Oregon Thursday, was centered over Idaho this morning. The counterclockwise circulation around it was still spinning clouds back over virtually all of Oregon this morning, with some showers continuing east of the Cascades.

There is a deep marine layer over the Willamette Valley this morning...extending up to about 7500 feet, with a thick cloud-cover and areas of drizzle/sprinkles. Mostly just trace amounts of rain have been reported. Clouds will be persistent across western Oregon today, even as the parent upper-level trough pushes off to the east. There may be some partial clearing in the late afternoon. Cooler air aloft and cloudy skies will keep high temperatures near 70 degrees (more than 10 degrees below normal).

With westerly transport winds today and the flow aloft turning from northeasterly to northwesterly, smoke from area wildfires is being evacuated from western Oregon. Willamette Valley and western Cascade nephelometer readings are falling back closer to normal levels this morning...an indication that the wildfire smoke is being pushed east of the region. Temperatures may not warm enough to allow for open burning in the valley this afternoon.

If today is not a burn day and you are experiencing smoke, please try one of these links for additional information.

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - http://www.noaa.gov

Northwest Interagency Coordination Center - http://www.nwccweb.us/

Oregon Fire Department Websites - http://oregon.gov/OSP/SFM/Oregon_FD_Websites.shtml

Oregon Department of Forestry Regional Offices - http://oregon.gov/ODF/offices.shtml

DISCLAIMER: This page is presented by the Oregon Department of Agriculture to provide a basic "quick look" at the possibilty of open field burning for a given day. The information on this page is determined by weather conditions forecasted in the early morning hours. Weather conditions change frequently and rapidly, and burn decisions may change in accordance with weather changes.