After weeks of weather that didn’t feel like winter, the chill of season has returned. Temperatures, specifically the overnight lows, have cooled off considerably compared to the numbers we saw just a few days ago. When it comes to precipitation, the past couple of days have been quiet across the northwest. But, according to meteorologist Marilyn Lohmann with the National Weather Service, the region’s current water year looks very good.

“We are a little bit low for January, but if you look back to November and then we had a couple rounds in late December and even early January that really brought things back up fairly well for us.  So, we are still a little bit dryer than I think we thought we’d be this time of year.”

While the water year looks good, Lohmann noted the warmer weather over the previous week melted much of the area’s mid-elevation snowpack, which could lead to trouble this spring. Lohmann added thanks to intense rain to start the month, drought figures across western Oregon have improved considerably. But she noted, the same can’t be said inland.

“Some of the drought areas east of the Cascades have seen a little bit of an improvement as well, and some of it, it’s just so long term that until we know coming into spring and summer that the reservoir storage and some of the other impact related things to a low snowpack year are mitigated, we probably won’t see a lot of improvement.”

Lohmann added area soil moisture levels are not where they should be for this time of year.




If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com

More From PNW Ag Network