BEND, OR -- Drought conditions continue in much of Central and Eastern Oregon, despite spring rains and recent storms. The water year officially ended in July and Larry O’Neill, with the Oregon Climate Office, says conditions didn’t improve much in the last two months, "The average temperature for the month of July, for most of the Pacific Northwest, was much above normal with even a few scattered patches of ‘record warmest.’ Precipitation, on the other hand, even though it seems like we’ve had a lot of thunderstorms in the Pacific Northwest, the last 60 days have actually been much drier than normal." While 17 Oregon counties remain under a drought declaration, he says conditions are slowly improving.

O'Neill was surprised in the shift from spring of 2021, which was the driest on record, followed by the spring of 2022, which was one of the wettest, "The whiplash between these two different springs was really a challenge in advising people on water supply and wildfire risk issues." And, he says those challenges will continue, especially in these La Nina years, "If the wintertime precipitation isn’t well above normal, then we’re really going to depend on spring conditions to make up any deficits. And these last two springs really show us that we can go back and forth into extremes in either direction."

The National Weather Service predicts we will remain in the La Nina pattern for a third consecutive winter, which could bring more moisture than normal.

The Pacific Northwest didn't see much change in drought conditions in the last two months of the water year, but it's a vast improvement over 2021, according to Larry O'Neill with the State Climate Office at OSU.