Oregon Snowpack Starts To Melt

While temperatures are warming across the Northwest, snow remains in many of the higher elevations, especially in Oregon.  The statewide snowpack is currently 134% of average.  Matt Warbritton is with NRCS said the 2024-2025 snow year was a good one for several portions of the state.

“Especially for southern and central and eastern Oregon, [it] has been pretty great" Warbritton said.  "There's been several sites that throughout this winter have recorded record high snowpack and in areas that have been experiencing more longer-term precipitation deficits or longer term drought.”

He noted specifically the Klamath Basin, which he pointed out had a great snow year.

Warbritton says now the question is how well does this snowpack melt, filling area reservoirs and irrigation networks.  Unfortunately, SE Oregon has already seen devastating flooding in and around the Burns area.  And Warbritton says they will keep a close eye on several other basins.

“You know, in areas where we're seeing elevated snowpack, for example, across southern and central Oregon, those are some of the areas where we are seeing higher rates of melt just due to the amount of snowpack that's there and also the warmer temperatures," he noted.  "That we've experienced over this past week and weekend.”

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