The procedure for making personal observation to determine the forest fire smoke index value for local areas without National Weather Station (NWS) or Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) monitors is:
- Face away from the sun.
- Determine the limit of your visible range by looking for targets at known distances (miles).
- Visible range is that point at which even high contrast objects totally disappear.
- Use the values below to determine the local forest fire smoke category.