I got this amusing note from a viewer yesterday, it’ll definitely go in the FUN, WEIRD, & MEAN EMAILS section up above. The underlined parts are my emphasis:
—–Original Message—–
From: XXXXXX
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 6:07 PM
To: fox12news; webstaff
Subject: FOX 12 Feedback
Date: 10/01/2012
Time: 09:06:37 PM ET
Form Name: Email Us
USER PROFILE INFORMATION
First Name: Robert
Last Name: XXXXX
“Mark is still saying we are not in a drought. I have to disagree with him again based on the plants, the ground, the sky and the amount of rain the last 3 months. We may not be in an extended drought yet but we are in the beginning of a drought. Mark keeps going back to the wet spring but that water is now gone. A hydrologist was speaking on the radio today that due to how dry the ground is at this time if there is only average snowpack this winter there could be problems next summer with the lack of snowmelt run off as before there is any run off the dry ground will need to be saturated and at this point the ground is very dry. Please have Mark go outside and observe the sky, the plants, the ground, etc. The NW needs rain and it needs it now. Hopefully Mark will look into this more and admit that rain is needed. Humility is a virtue. Pride goeth before the fall.”
The answer? No, we are not in a drought, unless Fall stays dry and we go into winter dry…but that’s a long ways away. Take a look at the official USDA Drought Monitor info:
Only in the past two weeks have we seen “abnormally dry” conditions try to creep into Western Oregon. The only part of Oregon in drought conditions is from Deschutes County down to the south Cascades and east to the southern part of the Blue Mountains.
Why?
1. We had a big snowpack last winter and spring, reservoirs were all full through early summer.
2. Early summer was wet…remember June? A real soaker.
IF we would have seen a dry and mild spring, then we probably would be in drought conditions now, but we didn’t, so we aren’t.
Now this doesn’t mean your plants and small trees aren’t stressed. You should still be watering them until mid October, then most of them should be starting to go dormant anyway. Plus most likely some rain will be on the horizon by then.
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen