Record heat and drought persist in Far West

Temperatures throughout the drought-parched Far West soared to as high as 110 degrees late Monday afternoon near Redding, Calif.. Other record maximum readings for June 8 included; 108 degrees at Chico, Calif., 106 degrees at Red Bluff, Calif., 105 degrees at Sacramento, Medford, Ore., and Yakima, Wash. Stockton, Calif., reported 104 degrees. It was 103 degrees at Wenatchee, Wash., and 100 degrees at Lewiston, both new record highs for the date. Spokane observed a record 96 degrees on Monday.

Not only has it been unusually warm this June, but most of the Inland Empire, except for the Coeur d'Alene region, has been bone-dry. We saw our water levels dip this week to "100-year lows" for this time of year due to the lack of snow melt in the nearby mountains. We are seeing water levels in June that normally don't occur until late summer or early fall.

We've already seen some small brush fires this month in the Inland Empire. I'm afraid that things will only get worse as far as wildfires are concerned as our predicted hot and dry summer of 2015 evolves. Needless to say, the Far West is an explosive 'tinderbox.'

The continued hot and dry weather conditions to the south of us in California have "seriously damaged" the Golden State's agricultural economy.

According to recent reports, "farmers have seen about 560,000 acres laid fallow in California this crop season of 2015. As many as 20,000 farm workers have lost their jobs. The state's economy will lose at least $2.7 billion this year."

The worst drought in decades has resulted this year in losing more than 2.5 million acre feet of water throughout California.

According to Meteorologist Randy Mann:

"In 2014, there were 428,000 fallowed acres, over 17,000 lost jobs and $2.2 billion in economic losses according to an article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Although many farmers depend on the groundwater system for irrigation, many of the wells have either gone dry or have very little water. Many farmers are digging deeper for this precious commodity, but it's uncertain how much groundwater there is.

The recent hot and dry weather in the Far West is not good news for the Golden State. Many officials are very concerned about another massive fire season that would deplete water supplies even further.

Many are hoping that the moderate to strong El Nino holds on through the end of the year. California often receives heavier rainfall during this event. We've already seen drought-breaking rains in Texas and Oklahoma and it's quite possible that the Golden State will go from drought to floods if El Nino remains strong into early 2016."

In answering a Press subscriber's question, the water situation in Arizona and neighboring Nevada is not nearly as dire as in California.

Arizona, unlike California, has been able to withstand an extended 15-year drought through long-term planning in water management and conservation. A massive underground water reserve holds enough water to last Arizona for more than a full year without rain.

However, dropping water levels of Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the entire U.S., may eventually prompt water usage cuts that both Arizona and Nevada are trying to avoid by 2017. Once again, only time will tell.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

For the past two weeks since the torrential downpours locally at the beginning of June, mostly in the Coeur d'Alene area, we've been bone-dry and quite hot across North Idaho and the rest of the Inland Empire with scattered brush fires in the region well ahead of the normal fire season.

The first four days of this past week saw readings in the sweltering 90s in town at my station on Player Drive. These were near-record afternoon highs for early June dating back to the "dirty 1930s."

I'm afraid that the Inland Northwest, like most other regions in the drought-parched Far West, will probably see catastrophic wildfires as the summer months progress with an expected dry and warm early fall season.

The threatening combination of less than normal precipitation and hot, dry, often gusty winds, will set the stage for a series of raging infernos more typical of the Southwest than the Northwestern U.S.

As I mentioned last week, the only precipitation that I see during at least the next three to four months in our part of the country will come from very brief thunderstorm activity, mostly on the 'back side' of the frequent heatwaves. High pressure will remain firmly locked in place east of the Cascade Mountains.

Longer-term, I don't see much hope for a normally snowy winter season in the Inland Northwest until the current stubborn El Nino finally 'bites the dust' in the warm Pacific waters sometime in early to mid 2016 or later.

In the meantime, it looks like more heat, dust and wildfires and no improvement in the lowest water levels locally in at least 100 years. Pray for rain!

Next week in 'Gems,' Randy Mann will update the El Nino event as well as the latest data on sunspot activity.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com