Early Season Snowpack MIA In Washington

Farmers and skiers have been asking the same question the past week or so; where is the snow?

Lates numbers from USDA show the snowpack across Washington is 42% of normal, the result of a warm and dry October and November for the region.

Matt Warbritton with NRCS said while it would be nice to see snow in the higher elevations this time of year, he would prefer to see a steady amount of rain before that snow accumulates.  He noted that late fall rain is needed to restore soil moisture and stream flows.

"We are seeing areas where precipitation has been lacking, in particular in the central Washington Cascades and in parts of the upper Yakima Basin.  And those are two regions where we've seen some pretty persistent moisture deficits really persist over the past two years and where we're seeing a current drought.”

The National Weather Service says a weak La Niña has developed in the Pacific.  While that does increase the likelihood of more precipitation and colder temperatures for the Pacific Northwest, i.e. snow, Warbritton says it’s not a guarantee.

"However it seems, there's been sort of more persistent high-pressure systems that have prevented some of the precipitation that we've seen in British Columbia, as well as storms that have impacted the Sierras, really provide more beneficial impacts to Washington, especially in November, where we entered a bit of a drier stretch compared to October and also had some warmer temperatures as well that prevented some of the precipitation that did fall from falling as snow," he said.

Time To Panic?

Is Warbritton concerned that the snowpack is only 42% of average right now?  Not at this point, but if this trend continues into January and February, he noted the region could be in for a challenging 2026.  He added current weather forecasts call for snow showers to return to the Cascades and higher elevations in Washington this weekend.

For more from Warbritton, listen to our entire podcast:

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