By Emry Dinman, Union-Bulletin

Drought is expected to impact much of the Pacific Northwest region this summer, including areas in Eastern Washington, Southern Oregon and Southern Idaho, climatology and water officials said during a media briefing Wednesday.

A recent map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that about 54% of Washington is experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions, with about 25% of the state in an area of severe drought. Much of the western U.S. is seeing drought-like conditions.

Washington and Oregon recorded above-normal precipitation levels and below-normal temperatures in April, which brought gains to snowpack in some areas.

Drought conditions in Washington have gradually improved since the record breaking hot, dry summer of 2021, when 100% of the state was abnormally dry and nearly 60% was experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought.

But by the end of March, nearly 99% of Walla Walla County was still experiencing severe drought, which can impact crops, fish, livestock and water supply, as well as increasing the number of wildfires.

The drought outlook in Walla Walla County was substantially improved by April precipitation, however. As of Thursday, May 19, most of the county is now in moderate drought, which can lower river flows and increase fire risk and dust storms, though a wide swathe county along the Oregon border is only abnormally dry, which has minimal impacts.

But state climatology experts predict it will be warmer and drier than normal in summer months.

Conditions in Washington

The state has seen relatively cool and wet conditions over the last month or two after dry conditions at the start of the year, said Washington Climatologist Nick Bond.

“I’ll remind you that east of the Cascade crest, the normals are fairly modest this time of year, and so the actual surplus in inches isn’t that great, but still, it was a wet April,” Bond said.

After lower-than-average precipitation in the Lower Snake-Walla Walla River Basin during the first three months this year, April brought 40% more rain and snow than normal, according to a May 1 water supply outlook report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

But that surge was only enough to bring overall precipitation since October — the start of the water year — to 90% of average.