Milling Journal

State College, PA -- AccuWeather.com reports while concerns linger about major river flooding in the Midwest and northern Plains following above-normal precipitation this winter, the Northwest has a problem quite the opposite: drought.

Much of the Northwest has been in the throes of a dry spell following a winter of below-normal rain and snow.

The lack of snowpack over the area is leaving farmers worried about their crops.

Cherries, apples, grapes and winter wheat are primary crops in the Northwest states.

Walla Walla, WA has recorded only 55% of its normal precipitation since November and only 4.5 inches of snowfall.

A weak El Niño has given the continental United States a more southerly storm track the past few months, so many storms with significant precipitation have missed the Northwestern states.

AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk said this sort of dry pattern in the Northwest is not unusual for an El Niño winter.

Farmers in the northwest depend on snowpack to maintain their reservoirs.

OPB News reports that many farmers can rely on stored reservoir water to make up for the lack of rainfall.

However, if next winter is also dry, farmers may be in trouble.

The U.S. drought monitor has the entire state of Idaho and most of Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah as being at least abnormally dry.

Slight relief from the dry spell is possible, as a weak storm rolls in from the Pacific Sunday into Monday bringing scattered showers from coastal Washington and Oregon to parts of the interior Northwest.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• AccuWeather

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