NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Report: Oregon
Oregon snowpack remains
below average heading into April should put an end to
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
While Oregon’s mountain
snowpack is in much better
shape than it was just two
months ago, it is likely too
little, too late.
April is usually the time
when snow peaks around
the state, though the USDA
Natural Resources Conserva-
tion Service reports all basins
are still behind on snowpack,
with most measuring between
40 and 70 percent of normal
levels.
The news does not bode
well for stream flows or
drought conditions heading
into summer, said Scott
Oviatt, NRCS snow survey
supervisor.
“Snow and cooler weather
in March was not enough to
bring snowpack levels up to
normal,” Oviatt said. “Moun-
tain snowpack peaked well
below normal this winter at
most locations in Oregon.”
Areas closest to the
Columbia River seemed to
fare best over the winter, with
EO file photo
The Horseshoe Prairie Nordic ski area, seen here on
Jan. 1, offers cross country skiers and snowshoers
nearly 10 miles of marked trails. Snowpack in the Blue
Mountains is about 91 percent of normal in April.
the Umatilla, Walla Walla
and Willow basins, as well as
the Hood River, Sandy and
Lower Deschutes basins, at
91 percent of normal.
Southern Oregon, and
especially southeast Oregon,
is in much rougher shape. The
Malheur and Owyhee basins
both received less than half
their usual snowpack, and
the Klamath Basin is sitting
at just 47 percent. Gov. Kate
Brown has already declared a
drought in Klamath County.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
solitary confinement
near average flows. Others
may be “well below normal,”
depending on their location.
“Water users that are not
able to take advantage of
reservoir storage will likely
experience
significantly
reduced water supplies this
summer, especially in the
southern and southeastern
basins of Oregon,” the
report states. “The governor
declared a drought emer-
gency in Klamath County
in March and more counties
may follow.”
Summer stream flows
could be as low as 30-60
percent of average in the
Klamath, Harney, Crooked,
Owyhee, Malheur, Lake and
Goose Lake basins. The silver
lining for Eastern Oregon
irrigators is the status of
reservoirs, which are storing
close to normal amounts
of water. Once again, the
Umatilla, Walla Walla and
Willow basins are at the top
of the heap with reservoirs
at a collective 123 percent of
normal.
The lowest reservoir
levels can be found in the
Rogue and Umpqua basins
of western Oregon, at 88
percent of average.
Blues in better shape
than most basins
is not forecasting much in
terms of relief. The next three
months will more than likely
see average to above-average
temperatures across the state,
along with below-average
precipitation.
“Our best hope is a cool
spring that helps to prolong
the snow we have further into
the season,” Oviatt said.
The NRCS released its
April stream flow forecast
on Friday. Not surprisingly,
it predicts that rivers closest
to the Columbia River are
expected to have average to
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND – Inmates
with severe mental health
conditions at Oregon State
Penitentiary in Salem
spend an average of nearly
23 hours per day in solitary
confinement, according to
a report released Tuesday
by
Disability
Rights
Oregon.
The state in many
cases may be violating
the inmates’ constitutional
rights, the nonprofit advo-
cacy group alleged.
Isolation can exac-
erbate
symptoms
of
mental illness, including
depression and anxiety,
and many prison systems
around the nation have
discontinued the practice,
said Elizabeth Seaberry,
a spokeswoman for the
advocacy group.
The report recommends
that the Oregon Depart-
ment of Corrections end
solitary
confinement,
transfer acutely mentally
ill patients to a therapeutic
environment and improve
access to mental health
care.
A DOC spokeswoman
did not immediately return
messages Tuesday from
the Pamplin/EO Capital
Bureau seeking a response
to the report.
While located in Salem,
Oregon State Penitentiary
holds inmates from around
the state.
More than three dozen
men in the prison’s
Behavioral Health Unit
spent almost 23 hours a
day confined to “dark,
cramped cells” during the
final quarter of 2017, the
study showed.
The progress report
follows revelations by
Vehicle fell in Calif. river in region where family vanished
LEGGETT, Calif. (AP)
— A vehicle fell into a rain-
swollen river and vanished
last week in the same region
of California’s far north coast
where a family that vanished
during a road trip is last known
to have been, authorities said.
Mendocino
County
sheriff’s Lt. Shannon Barney
told The Press-Democrat of
Santa Rosa that officials will
launch a search of the south
fork of the Eel River once
water levels drop and the flow
slows.
Witnesses reported a
newer-model maroon vehicle,
possibly a Honda Pilot,
went into the river about 1
p.m. Friday, said California
Highway Patrol Officer
William Wunderlich. The
vehicle was southbound on
U.S. 101, pulled into a turnout
and went over the side and
into the river.
Four members of the
Thottapilly family have been
missing since last week while
traveling from Portland to
their home in Santa Clarita,
California, the San Jose Police
Department said in an email to
The Associated Press.
A relative who had been
expecting them in San Jose on
Friday reported them missing
on Sunday.
“The family never made it
to their destination and have
not been heard or seen from
since Thursday,” the statement
said.
Police identified their
vehicle as a maroon or
burgundy
2016
Honda
Pilot with license plates
7MMX138.
A “missing” poster shared
by friends and family on
Facebook identified the
Thottapilly family members
as 42-year-old Sandeep,
38-year-old
Soumya,
12-year-old Siddhanty and
9-year-old Saachi.
The poster said their last
known location was the
“Klamath-Redwood National
Park area.”
The Klamath River and
a string of state and federal
redwood parks lie along U.S.
101 to the north of where the
vehicle was seeing falling
into the Eel River. A powerful
storm late last week dropped
2 to 5 inches of rain in the
region.
Farther south along the
Mendocino County coast,
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Cloudy, a shower
in the p.m.
Clouds and sun, a
shower; cooler
60° 38°
52° 38°
SATURDAY
Mostly cloudy
Rather cloudy
64° 43°
Cooler with spotty
showers
58° 39°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
58° 41°
65° 41°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
59°
60°
87° (1925)
45°
38°
24° (2010)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.48"
0.44"
4.19"
6.45"
4.40"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
63°
63°
80° (1985)
43°
39°
22° (1933)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.46"
0.24"
2.84"
4.98"
3.35"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Apr 15
Apr 22
69° 46°
59° 40°
Seattle
53/41
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
63° 43°
Full
6:17 a.m.
7:36 p.m.
4:32 a.m.
3:00 p.m.
Last
Apr 29
May 7
Today
SUNDAY
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
57° 42°
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
TODAY
authorities continue to look
for members of a family
missing since an SUV made
a deadly and possibly inten-
tional plunge off a towering
ocean bluff along State Route
1 last month.
Sarah and Jennifer Hart and
their six adopted children were
believed to be in the family’s
SUV at the time. Five bodies
were found March 26 near
Mendocino, a few days after
Washington state authorities
began investigating the Harts
for possible child neglect, but
three of their children were not
immediately recovered from
the scene along the shoreline.
A body was pulled out of
the surf on Saturday but its
identity was not immediately
identified by emergency
crews.
Spokane
Wenatchee
55/37
54/39
Tacoma
Moses
52/37
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 59/39
55/36
49/42
49/38
58/37
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
49/40
61/39 Lewiston
64/41
Astoria
62/42
49/41
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
51/42
Pendleton 55/31
The Dalles 65/41
60/38
57/40
La Grande
Salem
56/34
51/40
Albany
Corvallis 51/39
50/38
John Day
55/31
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
63/41
50/38
52/29
Caldwell
Burns
61/40
51/27
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
49
58
52
51
51
55
50
58
65
55
48
56
54
56
49
52
63
64
60
51
55
51
55
54
50
61
58
Lo
41
34
29
40
27
31
38
36
41
31
24
34
32
37
42
41
41
41
38
42
27
40
37
31
40
39
37
W
r
c
r
r
sh
c
r
c
c
c
r
c
c
r
r
r
c
c
c
r
r
r
c
c
r
c
c
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
Hi
50
50
47
51
45
43
50
49
58
44
43
46
44
51
50
51
55
59
52
52
51
53
51
41
51
53
60
Lo
45
28
31
43
21
30
40
37
41
31
25
33
32
36
44
45
34
39
38
44
28
43
33
30
44
40
36
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
r
pc
c
sh
pc
pc
r
pc
pc
pc
sn
pc
pc
r
r
r
pc
pc
pc
r
sh
r
r
pc
r
pc
pc
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
76
83
63
56
70
47
66
67
62
81
69
Lo
49
75
49
47
53
28
49
55
43
68
60
W
c
s
sh
r
t
s
pc
pc
s
s
pc
Thu.
Hi
70
83
70
59
74
49
62
62
65
89
72
Lo
48
75
55
48
52
30
47
50
42
71
53
W
s
t
pc
c
pc
pc
sh
t
s
s
pc
WINDS
Medford
56/37
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
48/24
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Periods of rain today;
breezy. Overcast tonight with showers.
Periods of rain tomorrow.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Cloudy today
with a shower, except dry in the south. A
shower tonight.
Western Washington: Periods of rain today.
A couple of showers tonight. A touch of rain
tomorrow.
Eastern Washington: Cloudy today; a
couple of showers, but dry near the Idaho
border and in the mountains.
Cascades: Snow today, accumulating 1-3
inches; a bit of morning snow, then rain
across the north.
Northern California: Mostly cloudy today;
rain, except snow at times in the interior
mountains.
Today
Thursday
N 4-8
SSW 7-14
WSW 12-25
W 12-25
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
1
2
2
Disability Rights Oregon
two years ago that about
40 male inmates in the
Behavioral Health Unit
at the prison were kept
in isolation and received
inadequate mental health
care. In some instances,
prison staff members
acted violently toward the
inmates, according to the
advocacy group.
In early 2016, DOC
leaders agreed to take
steps in the subsequent
four years to improve the
conditions for inmates in
the specialized unit.
“The agreement strives
to reshape this unit to live
up to its original vision: an
environment that’s safe for
prisoners and the prison
staff who work with them,
where prisoners can heal
through effective treatment
for their mental health
conditions, and where their
intrinsic human dignity
is safeguarded,” said Joel
Greenberg, report author
and staff attorney with
Disability Rights Oregon.
Tuesday’s report marks
the midpoint of that four-
year improvement plan.
Disability
Rights
Oregon alleged that the
corrections
department
is failing to ensure that
inmates
with
mental
health conditions are
released from their cells
for a minimum of 20 hours
a week. That number is
the minimum to protect
inmates with mental health
conditions from “cruel
and unusual punishment”
as defined by the Eighth
Amendment.
“Unless there is a
dramatic shift, DOC is
unlikely to meet the goals
it agreed to within the
timeframe,”
Greenberg
said.
2
1
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Wet snow and rain will extend from the Great Lakes region to the
northern Plains, northern Rockies and coastal Northwest today. Showers will dot South
Florida. Much of the rest of the nation will be dry.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 102° in Thermal, Calif.
Low -1° in Clayton Lake, Maine
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
83
69
51
58
56
72
60
46
69
62
61
55
81
77
56
93
48
39
82
79
61
72
73
90
74
76
Lo
53
48
43
43
33
51
37
37
49
44
52
46
59
46
46
68
25
30
74
59
53
51
51
57
52
53
W
s
s
s
s
r
s
c
s
pc
pc
c
r
s
s
c
s
pc
r
pc
s
pc
s
s
s
s
s
Thur.
Hi
78
76
59
71
38
79
48
54
75
77
65
69
80
76
68
88
49
41
83
81
74
75
75
69
80
69
Lo
38
54
52
57
27
56
33
48
56
53
46
49
67
33
43
57
30
31
73
68
58
56
62
51
62
53
W
s
s
c
pc
sn
s
pc
r
s
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
c
s
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
Today
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
64
71
83
53
47
68
75
52
78
75
54
97
45
50
63
62
65
61
70
70
68
61
53
95
61
79
Lo
53
54
68
41
35
51
57
44
58
44
43
67
34
36
45
35
35
40
55
48
58
49
41
63
46
58
W
pc
s
pc
c
r
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
pc
c
sh
s
pc
s
c
r
s
s
s
Thur.
Hi
77
78
81
57
52
78
77
62
81
69
67
82
49
58
75
52
48
62
76
51
67
60
52
84
75
83
Lo
59
60
70
38
36
58
63
55
62
58
57
57
42
47
53
22
30
42
63
36
54
48
44
50
60
65
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
pc
s
pc
pc
c
s
s
c
pc
pc
c
s
pc
r
s
c
sf
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
r
s
pc
s