As of September 4th we have gone 85 days straight with no measurable rain at the Salem Airport. In the weather world “measurable rain” is one hundredth of an inch (.01″) or more which means “trace” amounts do not count.
Putting our drought & historic dry streak in perspective
1.) Long periods without rain here in Salem is nothing new. 85 plus days in a row is no doubt a heafty streatch of days, but 3 of our top 5 longest dry streaks in recorded history took place before the Great Depression, and all 4 runner ups took place over 50 years ago.
2.) Keep in mind that summer in Oregon is always dry with the exception of a rare thunderstorm or light shower. This year we just so happened to not get any of those at all.
3.) Winter is when we typically receive most of our precipitation and snowpack up in the mountains which is why having a dry winter is much more worrisome than having a dry summer. Our wet fall/winter seasons usually have little trouble erasing summer drought every year with the exception of eastern Oregon which relies heavily on rain from springtime thunderstorms in addition to winter rain & snow.
4.) For comparison I put together this graphic showing statewide drought conditions centered on the end of August from recent years, and it shows quite well that drier than normal conditions in summer is nothing new. Most of these years the drought in the western half of the state was completely gone by the following spring. It’s amazing what our rainy winters can do!!
5.) One final thing to help us gauge where we are at with this drought. Take a look at the water level of Detroit Lake. This chart goes back to September 2015. You can see we are in the ballpark of where we ought to be this time of year and a lot better than where we were at in September 2015 which was a very bad drought year. So all in all no major concerns here for now.
6.) Lastly, I understand that many of us get tired of our winter rains, but we all know it’s the rain that keeps this state going. With that in mind, let’s hope we have a nice rainy winter so this drought can become a thing of the past and nothing worse.
Bryan Weather Alerts 