So, has the drought condition in Oregon abated?

[Ironbar]

Seems that way with all the rain in the last two weeks. Now all we need is a bigger than average snow pack in the mountains.

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[Mark W.]

NOPE Detroit lake is still nearly empty

 

[filsonhand]

Nope...Global warming is still running rampant causing this extreme drought we are still in If we could only get a few more hybrids we could reverse this injustice to mother earth, and offset all the environmentalists jet fuel to cruise the planet and tell us what creeps we are for using fossil fuel.

 

[308]

Sunriver, Oregon this afternoon

 

[Stomper]

OMG... the global warming is so BLINDING!!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

The Aquafer under the state, east of the mountains, is still near empty!

 

[Jamie6.5]

NOPE Detroit lake is still nearly empty

According to the USACE, Detroit has come up about 35 feet in the last week.

<broken link removed>

 

[Mark W.]

LOL only another 50 to go We were working up there a week ago and there was a drop off at the end of the Winter Boat ramp. Water wasn't much out of the old river bed and Briettenbush was a trickle.

 

[HenryJ]

Rain doesn't fill reservoirs. Rain on snow does That is what we need. The Owyhee is still at 7%. We need just an average snowpack followed by rain on snow to flush it home.

 

[Charliehorse]

Long way to go. But its starting to remind me of the turn around in early 80's after the late 70's drought years.
Here at 4200' I got 6" of snow, then what seemed like 6" of rain, then another 6" of wet snow. Lots of trees are coated with frozen snow. No power for 10 hrs yesterday from down lines.
Although the ground had frozen a few weeks back, the good thing is it had pretty much thawed before this storm. Now there's an insulating layer before the next few nights hard freeze in the teens. So lots of this water will be absorbed rather than just be run off.
Crater Lake got 43" which equals 2007.
And it looks like we're at the 30 yr average.

 

[Charliehorse]

In case you forgot, this was Winter of 2007. All time record in S. OR.
.

.

 

[The Heretic]

Ask again in the spring and into summer when we get the runoff from this winter's snowpack.

You have to take the long term view, especially when it comes to snowpack. This rain will flood the valleys (it is flooding the Tualatin quite a bit in Scholls), but that will drain away in a few weeks. It is the snowpack that will give us water come summer, and the forecast before these storms was that we would see 75% of average snowpack. It is snowpack that lasts until summer.

That said, one year does not make a drought, nor drought abeyance.

Plus, where the precipitation falls makes a difference. The NW corner of Oregon, where most of the rain falls, was the one part of the state that wasn't considered to be in a drought condition.

The upside for the whole Pacific NorthWet is that it isn't so dry anymore and fire danger is basically non-existent. But again, wait until summer before you celebrate.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

NOPE Detroit lake is still nearly empty

yeah no sh!t i was about to go lookin for my father in laws trolling motor... ya. lol

 

[Mikej]

yeah no sh!t i was about to go lookin for my father in laws trolling motor... ya. lol

I read a story in ^this^.....

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I read a story in ^this^.....

9.9hp mercury sittin in 200ft of water on a full lake.

 

[RicInOR]

Detroit Lake is filling? I guess I won't be able to recover all the firearms I lost in that boating mishap.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Detroit Lake is filling? I guess I won't be able to recover all the firearms I lost in that boating mishap.

yep all mine are lost in the snow near mt bachelor after the tragic dog sledding accident.

 

[Charliehorse]

Up to 80 inches accumulates in park
12.22.2015

Snowshoeing tours at Crater Lake National Park have been canceled due to extreme weather conditions, while non-essential personnel living outside the park were sent home Monday.

With heavy snowfall and high winds continuing since the weekend, the park has taken action to protect guests and employees, according to spokesperson Heidi Barker.
"It's been dumping up here," said Barker of heavy snows that began Friday.

She said a snowpack of 80 inches was measured Monday morning, with the possibility of 20 or 30 more inches today. Barker said this is more than 150 percent the average for this time of year, and the first serious snowfall for the park in the last four years.

Barker added wind gusts of 70 miles per hour have made conditions in wooded areas dangerous due to the likelihood of falling trees.
http://www.heraldandnews.com/news/c...cle_9a7aeb35-a637-5ef7-816c-1d58d4e79abd.html

 

[Charliehorse]

Remaining hopeful...
.
Crater Lake breaks snowfall record for December
Dec 31, 2015
CRATER LAKE — Crater Lake National Park broke a 67-year record for December snowfall this month, with close to 197 inches recorded.
According to the National Weather Service, 196.7 inches of snow have fallen at the park this month, breaking the previous record of 196 inches set in December 1948, when Harry S. Truman was president and Alaska and Hawaii had not yet been granted statehood.
And this year, it came with perks.
"We almost got the best of everything with this," said meteorologist Ryan Sandler. "We got a good buildup of snowpack, a decent amount of heavy rain at the low elevations for the month, yet we didn't really see much flooding.
"It really worked out almost perfect for us as far as trying to break the drought."
The park currently boasts about 100 inches of snowpack. The readings are taken in an area near the park's visitor center.

A long-term forecast predicts southwest Oregon will see close to average snowfall and precipitation in January, with a slightly wetter-than-normal period through March.

http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20151231/NEWS/151239917

 

[The Heretic]

Snowfall will not refill the aquifers. That will take centuries, maybe even millennia - if humans stop drawing them down today, which they won't.