State says Drought is so bad every County will qualify for Relief Funds

[countryjake]

http://www.goskagit.com/all_access/state-says-drought-is-so-bad-every-county-will-qualify/article_1c9b57c6-f711-5c5b-8a6d-85de355d9bda.html

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State agencies are declaring 2015 the worst drought year — and possibly the worst fire season — in Washington with weather conditions likely to persist next year.

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Officials are predicting the coming winter to be unusually warm with another year of low snowpack.

Weather patterns in the Pacific Northwest show a strengthening El Niño with warmer water and warmer weather, said Nick Bond with the Office of the Washington State Climatologist.

It’s difficult to predict what the snow pack levels will be like next year, he said.

Rain is also difficult to predict, but Bond said it’s also likely that Washington will have below normal rainfall in 2016.

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As of June 1, 747 wildfires have consumed 74,000 acres of Washington land — double the acreage of last year, said Mary Verner, deputy supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources.

“We don’t have large wildfires like the ones we’re experiencing,” Verner said.

[love_katz]

1. It is also way too dry down here in Oregon, as well.

Scary dry.

Not looking forward to another dry winter.

El Nino, go away.