Snowpack Shows Parts of Oregon in Good Shape

By Rod Hill on 2022-05-03


Coming off back-to-back La Nina winters and the current water stored in Oregon statewide snowpack shows some good news. Notice the higher than normal water supply in the Willamette basin and the Hood-Sandy basin, which includes Mt. Hood. Parts of central Oregon show good news with 99% of normal water stored in the Upper Deschutes -Crooked basin and east through much of the Blue Mountains is also near 100% of normal. The driest part of Oregon as fire season approaches is the Malheur basin at 39% of normal snowpack. (snowpack map shows stored water as of April 29, 2022)





Oregon fire season is expected to begin in June as opposed to May the last couple of years. The delayed start is thanks to our rainy, cool and yes snowy spring. The image below shows total precipitation for the water year, including total rainfall and snow dating back to October 1st. Notice the near normal to above numbers over much of eastern Washington.





Rod Hill