Washington seems to be descending into drought.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that a full 93 percent of the state is now in a moderate drought, while the remainder is still considered abnormally dry. Last week, only about half the state was reported to be in moderate drought.
Things are worse in Oregon, where 75 percent of the state is now in severe drought, and California, where more than half the state is in extreme drought and 90 percent is in severe drought.
Although the first water supply forecast for the summer irrigation season won’t come out until March, the Yakima Basin’s snowpack is just two-thirds of normal for this time of year, and a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Pendleton, Ore., said it’s time for some concern.
“People need to be thinking at the back of their mind that there might be water restrictions if conditions don’t improve,” hydrologist Marilyn Lohmann said.
According to USDA monitoring data, the upper part of the Yakima Basin has 55 percent of normal snow, and the lower part has 68 percent. At Stampede Pass, for example, only 9 inches of snow is on the ground instead of the expected 23 inches.
Lohmann added that this year is looking a lot like 2005. Some years, the region gets enough early spring precipitation to catch up, and other years, like 2005, the dry conditions just persist.
The dry weather is here for at least the next week and a half, Weather Service forecaster Mary Lister said.
“It’s not looking good,” Lister said, explaining that blocks of dry air were stuck over the region. “We can even see this out 10 days, 10 days at least.”
Looking long term, Lohmann said that there is no clear signal they can use to predict precipitation over the next few months. If there is a strong El Niño climate pattern, for example, climatologists can make more accurate long- range predictions, but this year, they don’t have any clear atmospheric pattern to work with.
“We have equal chances of above or below normal precipitation out through February, March, and April,” Lohmann said.
If these conditions continue, it could mean reduced water supply for crops and other uses, as well as increased wildland fire danger, she said.
Source:Yakima Herald