The region is technically still in drought, even with this rare April snow. Learn more here.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Climatologists say rare April snow, along with rain sweeping across the Pacific Northwest this week could increase water supplies, slow snowmelt and lengthen the irrigation season.

Impacts, however, will vary by region, and experts predict drought conditions will persist, the Capital Press reported.

Washington state climatologist Nick Bond said irrigators will benefit from April storms, but it won’t be enough to end the eastern Washington drought.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in eastern Washington it would take 159% to 368% of normal precipitation levels over the next two months to end the…

The chance of measurable snow on the floor of the Willamette Valley goes down considerably by April. Snow in the hills? Sure. But it is “very rare” for snow to fall down to the valley floor, as it did April 11, 2022, the National Weather Service said.

In much of the Portland/Vancouver metro area, this is the latest measurable snow in the spring. Here is the record report from the Portland weather service office for Monday’s snow:

For PORTLAND AIRPORT (1941-2022), this snow was…

** Most ever in the month of April,…

Studies show we are in the worst drought in 1,200 years. Learn more here.

By Nathan Rott, NPR

Shrunk reservoirs. Depleted aquifers. Low rivers. Raging wildfires. It’s no secret that the Western U.S. is in a severe drought. New research published Monday shows just how extreme the situation has become.

The Western U.S. and northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to the new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The last comparable — though not as severe — multidecade megadrought occurred in the 1500s, when the West was still largely inhabited by Native American tribes.

Today, the region is home to tens of millions of people, massive agricultural…

According to a top meteorologist, the Pacific Northwest will be cool and wet this spring and summer. Find out more here.

SPOKANE — Spring and summer will be cool and wet in the Pacific Northwest as the La Nina weather pattern lingers, a top meteorologist told attendees at the Spokane Ag Show.

Art Douglas, professor emeritus of atmospheric sciences at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., presented his annual weather forecast Feb. 1.

“You guys are going to be kind of the lucky folks as we go towards the spring,” Douglas told farmers. “You all have a better sense of how well your crop is established. My feeling is, you’re going to have a pretty good turnaround with that crop because…