COFFEE BREAK
8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020
Bride-to-be attempts to keep
Snowpack well below
costs, hurt feelings down
normal heading into 2020
OREGON WINTER
DEAR ABBY: I have an awkward wed-
ding conundrum I hope you can help me
with. I am getting married in April and
want to invite two co-workers with whom
I am very close. One of them is married;
the other, “Sara,” is in the process of divorc-
ing her husband. Sara was unhappy for
years with her almost ex-husband, and we
witnessed the deterioration of their marriage
over several years.
About a year ago, while
still married, Sara began an
affair. She’s still “seeing” this
man — sneaking out, meet-
ing him on his lunch break,
going to motels — while she goes through the
divorce process. She considers them to have
been a couple for the past year.
I know she will feel slighted because in
her mind he’s her boyfriend, and they are a
couple. I have met him only once, but because
they have been so secretive, he’s a complete
stranger to me. Sara may resent that I invited
our other co-worker’s husband and not her
“boyfriend.” Is there a way I can handle this
tactfully?
— BEWILDERED BRIDE
DEAR BEWILDERED: If you invite one
close co-worker’s signifi cant other and ex-
clude the other, there are guaranteed to be
hurt feelings. If you explain that you don’t
feel she is in a committed relationship (after
a year!), you will get yourself deeper into hot
water because she will be insulted. Believe
me, if you do what you are considering, it’s
going to cost you far more than the price of
two dinners.
age, or should I just give it all up? I don’t
even know how I’d go about fi nding such
a partner without fearing I’d have to prove
myself and experience more loss.
— WANTING THIS BUT NOT THAT
DEAR WANTING: I can’t guarantee
that you will fi nd a partner, but there is a
website for asexual people that offers a lot of
information as well as a way to connect with
the rest of the “ace” (short
for “asexual”) community. Its
DEAR
members call it AVEN, which
ABBY
stands for Asexual Visibility
and Education Network. It
can be found at asexuality.
org. You and many others may fi nd it help-
ful, and I wish you luck in your quest to fi nd
a loving relationship.
By George Plaven
Capital Press
SALEM — Early season
snowfall is lagging again
across Oregon, potentially
foreshadowing another dry
and diffi cult summer ahead
for farmers and ranchers.
But as 2019 proved,
things can turn around
quickly, giving plenty of
reason for hope.
According to the USDA
Natural Resources Con-
servation Service, Oregon’s
snow-water equivalent
— the amount of water
contained within snow — is
just 45% of normal state-
wide. Every water basin is
measuring below average for
snow, with the exception of
the Owyhee Basin in south-
east Oregon, which is hold-
ing up at 117% of normal.
The lowest totals are in
the Hood, Sandy and Lower
Deschutes basins at 25% of
normal, and the Willamette
Basin at 26%.
Mountain snowpack is
crucial for replenishing
streams and reservoirs for
farms and fi sh, especially in
Eastern Oregon. As snow
melts, it trickles down into
creeks and rivers, sustaining
healthy stream fl ows while
providing irrigation water
for crops and livestock.
Scott Oviatt, snow survey
supervisor for NRCS Or-
egon, said the agency will
release its fi rst water supply
outlook report by Jan. 10.
Based on the current lack
of snow, Oviatt said he an-
ticipates lower water avail-
ability earlier in the spring,
though there is still time to
DEAR READERS: Welcome to 2020. I
would like to share an item that was sent to
me by L.J. Bhatia, a reader from New Delhi,
India:
DEAR ABBY: This year, no resolutions,
only some guidelines. The Holy Vedas say:
“Man has subjected himself to thousands of
self-infl icted bondages. Wisdom comes to a
man who lives according to the true eternal
laws of nature.”
The prayer of St. Francis (of which there
are several versions) contains a powerful
message:
Lord, make me an instrument of your
peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.
And so, Dear Readers, may 2020 bring
with it good health, peace and joy to all of
you.
— LOVE, ABBY
DEAR ABBY: I’m a 67-year-old woman.
I’ve been single all my life but now wish I
could fi nd a companion to share my later
years with. My problem is, I’m not interested
in a sexual relationship. I have never been
good at the physical part of intimacy. As a
result, I’ve had limited experience and not
much luck with men. When I was younger,
I had a reasonably healthy sexual appe-
tite, but couldn’t seem to do “the act” right,
although I enjoyed the prelude.
My idea of a relationship now would be
with a kind, supportive man who likes to
dance and enjoy life, but who’s OK with no
sex. Is this a reasonable expectation at my
weather
rebound.
“We’re not in panic mode
yet,” Oviatt said. “It is early
in the (water) year ... We
can see some improvement,
depending on conditions.”
The water year, as defi ned
by hydrologists, begins on
Oct. 1 and runs through
Sept. 30 of the following
calendar year. November and
December are typically much
cooler and wetter months for
Oregon, Oviatt said, however
most of the state’s 90 snow
monitoring sites are mea-
suring less than 8 inches of
snow-water equivalent.
Perhaps more concerning,
overall precipitation includ-
ing rain is averaging just
50% of normal statewide.
The Oregon Water Re-
sources Department reports
that November in particular
was one of the top fi ve driest
months on record for north-
west Oregon.
Racquel Rancier, spokes-
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
39/47
Kennewick
39/46
St. Helens
40/47
41/46
41/48
40/47
38/47
Condon
TONIGHT
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
Cloudy with a
snow shower
Still cloudy
A morning
shower
Snow showers
possible
40 31
41 22
37 24
Eugene
2
1
4
40/51
41 35
41 25
38 26
2
1
3
La Grande
29 38 32
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
3
1
3
28 35 28
Comfort Index™
0
39 20
36 25
5
1
0
1
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Monday
Low Monday
High: 86°
Low: -31°
Wettest: 4.01”
38°
32°
39°
29°
43°
30°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Monday
Trace
Month to date
0.08
Normal month to date 0.95
Year to date
7.43
Normal year to date
10.10
0.01
0.53
1.61
14.25
16.47
Trace
2.20
2.97
28.63
23.64
HAY INFORMATION THURSDAY
55%
SSW at 4 to 8 mph
0.4
0.03
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Tuesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
23% of capacity
41% of capacity
67% of capacity
20% of capacity
38% of capacity
92% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Monday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
Immokalee, Fla.
Daniel, Wyo.
Madison, S.D.
OREGON
High: 60°
Low: 19°
Wettest: 0.02”
Brookings
Keno
Astoria
On Jan. 1, 1864, an arctic blast caused
poorly clothed Civil War soldiers and their
prisoners much suffering in Louisville, Ky.
The temperature dropped from 47 to 19
below zero in just 21 hours.
SUN & MOON
WED.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
THU.
7:32 a.m. 7:32 a.m.
4:20 p.m. 4:21 p.m.
11:28 a.m. 11:49 a.m.
11:03 p.m.
none
MOON PHASES
833 cfs
4 cfs
14 cfs
80 cfs
99 cfs
31 cfs
First
Jan 2
Full
Jan 10
Last
Jan 17
Beaver Marsh
41/53
New
Jan 24
nee R d E
O
M
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,
s
g
n
Show Listi
,
Crosswords
rts
o
p
S
,
h
c
r
a
e
Word S
re...?
o
M
&
s
e
z
z
i
Qu
Burns
Jordan Valley
Paisley
Frenchglen
30/39
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Hi/Lo/W
47/45/r
43/35/c
44/31/c
53/44/c
40/25/c
52/43/c
49/42/c
31/22/sf
38/32/sf
51/42/c
48/34/c
46/38/r
37/32/sf
38/32/c
33/27/sf
49/37/c
44/24/c
43/23/c
Hi/Lo/W
53/40/r
53/32/pc
45/37/pc
54/41/r
45/29/pc
57/43/r
54/40/r
36/25/sh
41/36/c
58/41/r
50/42/pc
51/38/r
44/36/c
48/35/c
43/32/c
52/41/pc
49/31/pc
50/31/pc
Grand View
Arock
35/45
33/42
30/40
Klamath Falls
28/44
Lakeview
25/43
McDermitt
Shown is Thursday’s weather. Temperatures are Wednesday night’s lows and Thursday’s highs.
FRI.
Diamond
29/38
Fields
37/48
THU.
Boise
28/35
26/42
28/42
Medford
Brookings
30/41
34/44
42/53
42/53
Juntura
28/40
Silver Lake
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Ontario
32/46
28/41
26/36
RECREATION FORECAST THURSDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
41/54
26/38
24/39
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
37/47
Coos Bay
Huntington
26/34
31/43
Oakridge
23/31
28/41
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
32/40
32/38
30/43
Florence
MONDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
27/34
John Day
30/45
Sisters
42/52
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
27/36
Baker City
Redmond
42/50
43/51
Halfway
Granite
38/49
Newport
42/52
43 34
32/41
36/43
40/48
Corvallis
Enterprise
28/35
29/38
Monument
36/45
Idanha
Salem
A shower in the
evening
3
Elgin
32/38
La Grande
33/40
Maupin
Comfort Index™
36/45
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
38/45
Hood River
37/45
TIllamook
32 40 27
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Walla Walla
39/49
Vancouver
38/46
39/49
Baker City
woman for OWRD, said that
average stream fl ows were
just 40% of normal state-
wide as of Dec. 30.
“We certainly would
like to see better and more
consistent stream fl ows
and a greater snowpack at
this point,” Rancier said.
“Conditions need to greatly
improve in the coming
months in order to have a
more normal water year.”
The U.S. Drought Moni-
tor shows nearly 98% of
Oregon listed in some stage
of drought, ranging from “ab-
normally dry” to “moderate.”
Conditions were much the
same at this time last year,
too, when snowpack was
just 42% of normal levels in
early January. Then came
February, which brought
drought-busting winter
storms that dumped several
feet of snow at higher eleva-
tions and boosted snow-wa-
ter equivalent by 20-30%.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
THU.
FRI.
Hi/Lo/W
45/37/sf
46/44/r
36/31/sf
48/34/c
50/47/r
45/43/r
46/30/c
50/40/c
45/39/c
47/44/r
54/43/c
45/31/c
53/39/c
48/44/c
38/32/c
48/37/c
36/30/c
45/39/c
Hi/Lo/W
50/41/sh
53/41/r
40/34/c
52/39/r
53/42/r
53/39/r
44/33/pc
54/41/pc
54/41/c
55/42/r
60/39/r
56/32/pc
59/42/r
56/41/r
45/35/c
50/39/pc
45/32/c
52/40/c
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
Check out
our new
TV Magazine
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Winds subsiding
Cloudy
25
18
35
24
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A snow shower
A snow shower
32
28
39
25
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A snow shower
A snow shower
26
18
33
27
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A snow shower
Cloudy
33
27
44
38
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A snow shower
A snow shower
40
27
38
32
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REVERS
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