Drought Forecast: Fingers Crossed for a Mild Wildfire Season

Despite reports of abnormally dry conditions in parts of Washington State, the drought forecast for the Wenatchee area is actually pretty good.

Jeremy Wolf with the National Weather Service says snowpack levels in the Cascade Mountains are 85 to 90% of normal.

"But you get further east, such as Mission Ridge in the mountains around Wenatchee, the snowpack is actually running near to above normal." Wolf said.

Wolf says all of Chelan County into Douglas County was in a moderate drought in November. Things look much better now.

"Thanks to all the precipitation that has fallen over the last three months, conditions have improved drought-wise across the region," Wolf said. "And the outlook, going into the spring, is for slightly elevated odds for being cooler and wetter than normal."

Wolf warns that the drought forecast can change for the worse if things dry up in a hurry leading to a decreased water supply and an increased risk of wildfires. He also says snowpack levels in North Central Washington are not a total indicator of what regional conditions are like.

"And to further illustrate that, the headwaters of the Columbia River way up in Canada. We actually have to look at the snowpack all the way up there to get a feel for what the stream flows and what the water supply is looking like as we go into the summer even down into the Wenatchee area since the Columbia River goes all the way down there." Wolf said.

For a look at the drought forecast for your county, click here.

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