Oregon Very Dry To Start May

Drought conditions are not easing as Oregon comes off one of its worse winter snowpack ever.  According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, less than 4% of Oregon is free of some level of drought.

Climatologist Jacob Genuise said Oregon’s water storage outlook is deceptively positive.

"Reservoirs look fine on paper, they’re about near median and most areas are where we’d like to see them on a normal year," he said.

But, Genuise noted, this isn’t a normal year.  Snowpack was at or near record lows across Oregon, and warmer than average temperatures have persisted since January.

" Also, noting that many basins recorded their peak snowpack a bit earlier this year," he said.  "Usually we see peak at April first, but some basins peaked two or three weeks earlier and are now melting out more quickly than we’d like, as well."

And that means those reservoirs won’t have much to draw from as demand increases this summer.

Nine Oregon counties have received state drought declarations, with Coos, Klamath and Wheeler counties pending.

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