Oregon is in a midwinter dry period along with unusually warm temperatures for February. That may change this weekend, bringing much-needed snow for the mountains.
The state is experiencing a historically low snowpack, according to state climatologist Larry O’Neill. He said snowpack hasn’t been this bad since 1981. And it’s even worse than 2015 which was a no-snow year.
This isn’t just bad news for ski resorts: snowpack is a natural reservoir for water. The lack of snowpack means the state will face drought.
“So, conditions right now are pretty dire in terms of the amount of snowpack that we’re behind,” O’Neill said. “So this storm probably will not catch us back up to normal, but it is quite possible it will make a good difference.”
O’Neill said there’s some uncertainty about the forecast, but it could bring a couple of weeks of more active weather and more precipitation.
The current warm, dry, conditions in Oregon are depleting the existing snowpack, O’Neill said.
“It’s way above freezing in the mountains as well. So the little bit of snow that we do have is melting pretty rapidly,” he said.
“Another concern is that the soils are drying out quickly. I’m seeing patches of dry dirt,” said O’Neill.
He said we’re not recharging our surface soil supply, which can affect the health of trees and vegetation. Also, the Willamette Valley’s agriculture may suffer without that soil moisture.
“We’re hoping that we get a big active storm cycle so we can get back to our normal water conditions,” he said.
Another consequence of the lack of snow and rain is that stream flows are low. That means it’s harder to generate hydroelectric power. So, we could see higher power prices.
O’Neill said the trend is for Oregon to have more years like this in the future.
