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Snowpack Good But Falling

BEND, OR --  Central Oregon's recent warm weather may be nice for residents and visitors, it's not good news for the mountain snowpack. Scott Oviatt, of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, tells KBND News the Central Cascades snowpack is almost normal for this time of year. “We’re much better in most locations. That being said, we’re still right around average or normal being 93% to 98%. So any improvement is obviously better than what we saw last year. It’s an apples and oranges thing, but we are in much better shape than we were last year.”

 

However, he says things are not moving in the right direction. “Over the weekend we lost an additional 5%, and that’s due to our warm conditions and also some rain falling on the lower and mid-elevations, which resulted in some snow melt. With warmer temperatures, we are losing low- and mid-elevation snowpack at this point and not adding to it, unfortunately.”

 

And, the National Weather Service predicts more of the same for the next three months: warmer temperatures and less precipitation.

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