http://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20150407/washington-snowpack-smallest-in-35-years
YAKIMA, Wash. — Washington’s winter snowpack now stands at 21 percent of normal, the lowest in at least 35 years, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimates junior water right holders in the Yakima Basin will be limited to 60 percent of normal water supply.
That means growers in the Roza Irrigation District and Kittitas Reclamation District probably won’t get all the water they need in late summer. It could curtail some Timothy seeding in the Kittitas Valley surrounding Ellensburg and harm the expansion of hops fields planned in the Yakima Valley. . . .
April 1 historically is the maximum snow accumulation date, Pattee said. Snowpack ranges from 2 percent of normal in the Olympics and 4 percent in the foothills of King and Snohomish counties to 68 percent of normal in Pend Oreille and 79 percent in the Methow, he said.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/7/low-oregon-snowpack-means-many-rivers-will-be-low/
Federal hydrologists say the latest numbers reinforce the forecasts: Rivers and streams throughout Oregon will have flows far below normal this summer due to the meager mountain snowpack. . . .
Precipitation has been at or near normal in most basins, but warm temperatures have left the amount of snow in the mountains at record lows, between 8 percent and 32 percent of average across the state. . . .
As of April 1, 76 percent of snow monitoring sites were at their lowest level on record. Though April 1 normally marks the peak snowpack for the year, more than half the monitoring sites reported bare ground.
The U.S. Drought Monitor puts most of Oregon in drought conditions, with the southeastern corner in extreme drought. Inflow to the Owyhee Reservoir is forecast at 24 percent of average.
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