Weather

The new snow year is just a few days old, but the snowpack is already showing signs of life in Washington.  NRCS’ Matt Warbritton said the pack is already looking good for the Washington Cascades, and he expects that to continue as the system that rolled through the region late Monday and early Tuesday continues to dump snow.     ...

Despite recent rain and the end of fire season, much of the Pacific Northwest remains very dry.  Dr. Guillaume Mauger, Washington’s State Climatologist, has been tracking regional conditions.   “The last 30 days gets more extreme, especially in eastern Oregon and across Idaho and western Montana, for temperature as well as precipitation,” he noted.   According to the latest...

Whether you call it a late summer, or beautiful fall; regardless of the name you give it, the weather we’ve seen not only here in the Northwest but across much of the country has been good for harvest, from grapes and tree fruit here in the Northwest, to corn and soybeans in the heartland.  But...

Much of the Northwest already knows this, but now the numbers just prove those thoughts.  Soil moisture levels across the western portion of the U.S. remain very low, even for this time of year.  Nationally, 62% of the country is dealing with soil moisture numbers that are very short to short.  The top state, wh...

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced additional assistance to help producers impacted by Hurricane Helene in their recovery process.  USDA is announcing that counties that have triggered for payment under the Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement for Hurricane Helene.  As a re...

Nearly 300,000 pounds of Washington apples are on their way to assist people impacted by the recent hurricanes that have struck the southeastern portion of the country.  Seven 42,000-pound shipments of apples are being delivered to Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina as part of an effort coordinated by Feeding the Northwest   The regional organization working with local agricultural producers to

Oregon State University researchers led an international coalition in developing a report on climate change.  And researchers say the data warns of an escalating crisis.  Previous reports looked at a few factors causing climate change.  OSU's Dr. Lillian...

The future is uncertain for thousands of Georgia farmers, the state’s agriculture commissioner said, with poultry growers and pecan farmers facing years of recovery from widespread destruction. Farmers in Georgia face billions of dollars in preliminary losses from destructive Hurricane Helene in what could be a catastrophic blow to the state’s agriculture industry.   A...

After the summer the Northwest has experienced, it should come as no surprise that pasture conditions in the area don’t look great to start the month of October.  USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey noted some of the driest lands are in the Great Plains, and out here in the West.   “Leadi...

The 2024 season was a struggle for many wheat growers across the Northwest.  Cat Salois with the McGregor Company said yields were “OK” thanks to precipitation that was just “OK” throughout the year.  She noted while late winter and early spring snow and rainfall was good for the region, April, May and June were all very dry months which hurt many spring wheat crops.   As growers focus on making t