Scott Evans, USFS Special Uses Administrator, recently announced that the Forest Service will be conducting "Prescribed Burns" in the Bluff Mesa area to the south of Big Bear above the Metcalf Tract starting on Monday, May 20th. The active burns will continue from Monday through Wednesday, with mop-up and patrol occurring on Thursday and into the Memorial Day weekend.
Smoke will definitely be visible, but the thought from the FS Fire team is that the majority of the smoke is going to head up and over the hill to the South, with potential for some smoke to creep down the hill to the north and into the Bear Valley in the evenings. It is not expected that this burn will impact the Metcalf Tract or the Big Bear Valley at all, other than potentially minor smoky evenings.
For more information, follow this link to the Forest Service article called, "Prescribed burning planned for the Big Bear area." .
Scott suggests that you may go to Bensweather.com for current weather information and possibly even live webcam shots of the burn itself.