The snowpack level in Oregon is well below what it normally is in early December. According to the Snow Survey Program run by the US Department of Agriculture, parts of the state have less than 50 percent of the usual amount of snow on the ground for this time of year, including most of the Cascades.
USDA hydrologist Scott Oviatt, who oversees the Snow Survey Program in Oregon, said many locations in the state experienced one of the driest Novembers on record. “We are guarded at this point," said Oviatt. "Obviously it’s not critical yet, no alarms going off, but we are keeping an eye on it.”
Oviatt said very few of the snow survey’s measuring sites under five-thousand feet in elevation are currently recording any snowpack at all. Statewide, the average snowpack is 59 percent of normal.
