Despite cool wet weather through mid and late April into early May, several portions of Oregon continue to struggle with drought. State Climatologist Larry O’Neill said western Oregon, specifically the Willamette is fairing very well, as are portions of SW Oregon. But the rest of the state is not fairing as well.

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“On the other hand, when you go into Eastern and Central Oregon, conditions have not improved materially. Things in the Prineville and Ochoco, Bowman Dam systems, those are still near historical levels.”

O’Neill said he’s hopeful the summer monsoon season could bring some relief for dry areas, but even that’s not a guarantee.

“We’ve got a large area in Central Oregon that’s at D4, or exceptional drought. You know, that’s the worst drought level and reserved only for the most historically significant droughts that we have. In that place, we would need something like 200-300% of normal precipitation within the next six months to bring that drought index back into normal category.”

O’Neill noted the Klamath Basin has also seen little improvement over the past six weeks.

He added this all could add up to another tough wildfire season. 

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