climatology

Recent heavy rains have helped fill reservoirs, especially in Washington, but the warm storms have not dropped a lot of snowfall in the mountains, and there is a growing precipitation deficit in southern and central Oregon, further limiting snowpack growth there.

While the last few weeks have had Oregonians breaking out the umbrellas and bemoaning ponds in their streets, the state climatologist says there’s a bright spot to the continuous rains.

Last week, Governor Kate Brown declared drought emergency in two more Oregon counties—Wheeler and Baker. Currently, more than half of the state is…