Oregon, Washington Continue To Dry Out

Much of the Pacific Northwest has seen warmer and drier than normal conditions over the past several months.  Climatologist Karin Bumbaco said Washington’s snowpack disappeared two-to-four weeks ahead of schedule.

"Even in parts of Oregon, where our snowpack was better, there are some sites that did melt out earlier than usual," she noted.

Changes For Washington, Oregon Not Expected Anytime Soon

National Weather Service Hydrologist Arin Peters said, despite some rainfall in some regions over the weekend over the weekend, Washington and Oregon remain generally behind seasonal targets.  And he doesn’t the two states to recover.

"Really need that May-June precip to kind of set the stage for a decent summer," Peters noted.  "And, lacking that precipitation now is not great for fire season, dryland agriculture, things like that."

While parts of Washington are now under a drought emergency, there have been no such declarations in Oregon.

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