Changes to Fire Weather Zones in Northeast Oregon

The National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Pendleton, OR (WFO PDT) is reconfiguring fire weather zones in northeast Oregon. This is tentatively set for September 10, 2024 at 2 PM PDT (2100 UTC). 

The changes will affect the Blue Mountains, Grande Ronde and John Day Valleys, Wallowa County, and a portion of the Burns District. This is tentatively set for September 10, 2024 at 2 PM PDT (2100 UTC).

Fire weather zones that cover central and north central Oregon will remain unchanged, although there has been collaboration amongst fire management agencies and the National Weather Service on a possible future change in the spring 2025. No changes will be made to the eastern Washington fire weather zones.

Why is the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Pendleton, OR proposing a change to the fire weather zones in northeast Oregon?

In 2022, fire weather zones across eastern Washington were reconfigured to match the Fire Danger Rating Areas (FDRAs) per request of a working interagency group.  Fire Danger Rating Areas are based on an analysis of the components of fire danger: vegetation, climate, and topography.  Multiple agencies that cover the Blue Mountains, Wallowa County, the John Day Valley, and the Burn District requested the same boundary changes based on the success of the Eastern Washington fire weather zone changes.  Aligning the Fire Weather Zones with the FDRAs will simplify relevant information and reduce the confusion across differing boundaries and among fire management personnel.

What steps were taken during the collaboration process?

A survey was sent to the fire weather partners in October 2023, and a majority of the responses were in favor of the alignment to match fire weather zones with the fire danger rating areas.  In January 2023, a video conference was held discussing the initial proposal of the new fire weather zones.  Since the conference call, there have been multiple collaboration emails with various agencies.  It was decided that central and north central Oregon needed a few adjustments that require additional time, and these zones will remain unchanged for now.  Support was given for the fire zones that cover northeast Oregon.

Questions or comments

Mary Wister, NWS Pendleton Fire Weather Program Leader – 541-276-8134  – mary.wister@noaa.gov

Old Fire Weather Zones

Current Fire Weather Zones and Names
OR642:  Southern Blue and Strawberry Mountains
OR643:  Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon
OR644:  Central Blue Mountains
OR645:  Wallowa District

New Fire Weather Zones

Proposed Fire Weather Zones and Names
OR691:  Western Forested Blue Mountains
OR692:  Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon
OR693:  Canyon Grasslands of Wallowa County
OR694:  Grande Ronde Valley of Oregon
OR695:  Eagle Cap Wilderness
OR696:  John Day Valley
OR697:  Central Blue Mountains
OR698:  Southern Blue Mountains

The NWS Service Change Notice is available here.

GIS Portal for fire zone shapefiles is located at https://www.weather.gov/gis/FireZones