While Dry To Start The New Water Year, Things Have Improved

The 2023 water year started October 1st, but unfortunately persistent drought remains for much of Oregon.  Pacific Northwest forecaster Washington State University’s Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik said it’ll be tough for some of the driest areas to recover.

"The areas with a little bit higher drought categories, in southern Oregon and Idaho, would need 130-150% of normal precipitation over the next six months.”

While things aren’t great to start the new Water Year, Boomgard-Zagrodnik said things overall look better now than a year ago.

"Things actually look better on the year-to-date plot for 2022 than 2021, and that’s thanks to the first half of the year. We’re running slightly above average, temperature-wise, for the year, which is nothing new for this era but could be worse.” 

The forecast is for La Niña again this winter, which would make three winters in a row under the influence.  La Niña means below normal temperatures are expected with above normal precipitation through February, meaning some areas could see drought relief by spring.

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