Text Products for DGT Issued by PDT

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Pendleton, OR
Versions: 1 2
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AXUS76 KPDT 161815
DGTPDT
ORC013-017-021-023-031-049-055-059-061-063-065-069-WAC005-013-021-
037-039-071-077-231815-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
1115 AM PDT Thu Sep 16 2021

...EXCEPTIONAL/EXTREME DROUGHT PERSIST ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST
WASHINGTON AND CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON...

.SYNOPSIS:
Areas of drought continue across much of south central and
southeast Washington as well as central and northeast Oregon.

Well below normal precipitation over the past five to six,
combined with extreme heat through the mid to late part of June
and well above normal temperatures through August has intensified
drought across much of the west. In addition, below normal
snowpack and precipitation dating as far back as last winter have
resulted in both meteorological and longer term hydrologic drought
conditions.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor released on September 16th...
exceptional drought extends from central and north central Oregon
through portions of northeast Oregon with extreme drought over
the remainder of northeast Oregon. Moderate to extreme drought has
expanded across much of south central and southeast Washington.

Moderate to extreme drought is noted along the east slopes of the
central and southern Washington Cascades, with exceptional
drought extending across the rest of eastern Washington.

A Drought Emergency has been issued by the Washington Department
of Ecology for much of state of Washington. Drought declaration
are in effect for all eastern Oregon counties.

The latest seasonal drought outlook indicates that drought
conditions in these area will likely persist.

.SUMMARY OF REPORTED IMPACTS:

Dryland farmers and ranchers are reporting loss of crops, lower
crop yield and selling of forage animals due to the dry
conditions. Some crops were not planted due to dry and/or
expected dry conditions.

In Klickitat County, emergency grazing is being allowed on CRP
land and there were several reports of domestic and grazing wells
in the shallow basalt water table aquifer are already having
trouble pumping. Wells will need to be deepened to reach water.

In Central Oregon, inflow to major water projects has been well
below normal for 2 years with the major reservoirs not refilling.
Water rationing for junior water rights is in effect.

Continued well below normal precipitation and the extreme heat
during the summer has left already parched soils even drier with
loss of grazing pastures and non irrigated crops.

Increased wildfire activity both in the low elevations and
mountains.

One bright spot, due to above normal snowpack in the Washington
Cascades, irrigators using the Yakima River System did receive a
full supply of water.

Drought Impact Reports can be found via the U.S. Drought Portal
in the related websites section.

.Hydrologic Conditions and Climate Summary...

Water Year 2021 precipitation, (Oct 1, 2020 - September 1, 2021)
has been below normal across much of Oregon and Washington.

Much of eastern Washington has seen only 50 to 70 percent of
normal precipitation with an area extending from eastern Yakima
and western Benton counties into Grant County Washington seeing
25 to 50 percent of normal.

A large area stretching across eastern Oregon from just east of
the Cascades across central, north central and northeast Oregon
as well as southeast Washington has seen only 50 to 70 percent of
normal precipitation with some areas within this region, seeing
only 25-50 percent of normal.

Average temperatures for the 2021 Water Year have been generally
above normal. Most areas have been 1 to 2 degrees above normal,
while much of south central Washington has seen temperatures 2-3
degrees above normal.

Most locations experienced record hot temperatures for the Summer
Season, June through August. As of September 1, 2021, it has been
the hottest summer on record so far at Pasco, Yakima and
Dallesport Airport in Washington.

Average streamflow at the majority of USGS gaging stations across
central and north central Oregon as well as southern Washington
were below normal to much below normal. Record low streamflow has
been reported on the Walla Walla river, the John Day river and
other smaller streams and creeks.

The outlook for October from Climate Prediction center has
equal chances of below or above normal temperatures and increased
chances of above normal precipitation.

The three month outlook from the Climate Prediction
Center for November through January has equal chances of above or
below normal temperatures, with increased chances of above normal
precipitation.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE:

Updates to this product are generally made on a monthly basis.

Additional information on current drought conditions may be found
at the following web addresses:
US Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
US Drought Information System: https://www.drought.gov
NOAA Drought Page: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought
WESTERN REGION CLIMATE CENTER...HTTP://WWW.WRCC.DRI.EDU
OREGON CLIMATE SERVICE...HTTP://OCS.OREGONSTATE.EDU
WASHINGTON CLIMATE OFFICE...HTTP://WWW.CLIMATE.WASHINGTON.EDU

Additional water and river information:
NWS: https://water.weather.gov
OWP: https://water.noaa.gov
US Geological Survey (USGS): https://water.usgs.gov
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): https://www.usace.army.mil

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE
USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS
BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS.

.CONTACT INFORMATION:

If you have questions or comments about this Drought Information
Statement, please contact:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2001 NW 56TH DRIVE
PENDLETON OR 97801
PHONE...541-276-7832
PDT.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
