Washington Drought

Time’s running out for local businesses hit by drought. With a few weeks left to apply for those low-interest loans, now’s the time to act.

Much of the Northwest is dealing with dry conditions to start 2026. And as USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey explains, it’s not just the Northwest starting the New Year dry.

While not where it should be this time of year, the snowpack across Washington has improved month-over-month.

As to be expected as we move into November, drought conditions across the Northwest are starting to improve.

It’s dry across the Northwest, even for late September.

Very few changes were reported to soil moisture levels across the Pacific Northwest over the past week.

The start of August saw some of the driest conditions of the year across the Northwest, including the first report of an Exceptional Drought in the region.

We are officially in the dog days of summer, which means dryer conditions not only across the west, but nationwide.

Dry conditions continue to spread across the three states. For the first time this year, Washington, Idaho and now Oregon are reporting Extreme Drought.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said the western U.S. has dried out very quickly.