NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
La Nina forms and likely to stay through winter
Cool, wet winter
on tap for much of
Pacific Northwest
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
SALEM — A La Nina has
formed, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration reported Thursday,
Oct. 14, portending a wet
and cold winter in parts of
the Northwest.
NOAA’s Climate Predic-
tion Center forecast the La
Nina will peak at moderate
strength from November
through January. The center
hedged a little, estimating a
13% chance the La Nina will
diminish before winter.
“We have to have a little
humility,” Washington state
climatologist Nick Bond said,
reacting to the forecast. “But
as much as we can, we can
count on it.”
La Nina winters gener-
ally lead to cool and wet
winters in the northern tier
of the U.S., including Idaho.
Above-average snowpacks
in the Cascades, espe-
cially in Washington, are
the norm. Last winter, a La
Nina prevailed. Melting snow
helped large Washington irri-
gation districts withstand this
year’s drought.
Farther south, however,
La Nina has the opposite
effect. A La Nina winter
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Snow blankets the forest Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, along Interstate 84 in the Blue Mountains outside Pendleton.
southern Oregon.
“I tend to temper expec-
tations for that part of the
state,” O’Neill said. “The
real wildcard is southwest
Oregon and most of Eastern
Oregon. Washington tends to
have a strong La Nina signa-
ture. People see that, and they
seem to forget Oregon.”
Below-average sea-sur-
could worsen drought condi-
tions in California and the
Southwest.
Oregon roughly south of
Roseburg falls in a transition
zone where the effects of
La Nina are hard to predict,
Oregon state climatologist
Larry O’Neill said.
During last winter’s La
Nina, drought worsened in
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Plenty of sun
Cloudy and breezy
with a shower
Warmer with
clouds and sun
A couple of
morning showers
Cloudy
67° 52°
65° 43°
68° 48°
69° 42°
59° 47°
57° 46°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
72° 52°
63° 49°
63° 47°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
63/53
65/47
65/43
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
66/52
Lewiston
65/51
66/46
Astoria
64/51
Pullman
Yakima 65/47
61/45
68/49
Portland
Hermiston
67/52
The Dalles 68/48
Salem
Corvallis
62/47
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
67/53
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
65/51
69/45
67/50
Ontario
68/47
Caldwell
Burns
68°
48°
65°
38°
85° (1940) 23° (1976)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
63/49
0.00"
0.04"
0.42"
2.71"
2.00"
6.09"
WINDS (in mph)
67/53
64/38
0.00"
0.06"
0.59"
5.06"
9.26"
9.80"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 66/48
64/51
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
67/52
68/49
63°
44°
64°
41°
85° (1940) 20° (1917)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
61/47
Aberdeen
63/44
63/45
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
62/51
Today
Medford
64/46
Wed.
NE 4-8
NNE 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 8-16
SW 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
55/39
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
7:17 a.m.
6:02 p.m.
6:01 p.m.
6:07 a.m.
Last
New
EAGLE POI N T —
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown,
Sen. Jeff Merkley, U.S.
Department of the Interior
officials and fire experts
Thursday, Oct. 14, visited
Southern Oregon to survey
damage from last year’s
South Obenchain Fire and to
talk about plans for managing
future wildfires.
According to the officials,
the West’s plan for combating
wildfires will include expand-
ing forest treatments, paying
federal firefighters a higher
wage, converting seasonal
firefighting positions into
permanent jobs and investing
in disaster recovery efforts.
“It’s been clear for a
number of years now that we
are fighting fires of a new age
made much more intense by
climate change using tools of
the last century,” Brown told
attendees, including fire-
fighters from the U.S. Forest
Service and Bureau of Land
Management.
Brown was surrounded by
High 89° in Key West, Fla. Low 12° in Wolcott, Colo.
Oct 20
Oct 28
Nov 4
Nov 11
By BENNETT HALL
Blue Mountain Eagle
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
JOHN DAY — A crane
operator was injured in an
explosion at the Malheur
Lumber mill on Wednesday,
Oct. 13.
The man, whose name has
not been released, was oper-
ating a crane at the mill when
it bumped into a power line,
possibly causing an electrical
charge to ground out through
the big machine, Grant
County Sheriff Todd McKin-
ley said.
The operator moved the
crane away from the power
line and got down on the
ground to check for damage,
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
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at which point one of the vehi-
cle’s tires exploded, injuring
the operator. As bystand-
ers began to gather around,
a second tire blew up, but no
one else was hurt, according
to the sheriff.
“Everybody in town heard
the booms, and those were the
tires,” McKinley said. “Those
were big tires.”
The man is employed by
Boise Crane. The city of John
Day contracted with the Idaho
company for two cranes to
place a new pedestrian bridge
across the John Day River at
the Hill Family Park on North
Canton Street. That work was
completed Oct. 12.
Malheur Lumber manager
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Rich Fulton said his company
also contracted with Boise
Crane to move some heavy
equipment at the mill before
the cranes went back to Idaho.
Fulton confirmed that no
one besides the crane opera-
tor was injured and said prop-
erty damage from the incident
was limited to the crane itself,
which had a broken window
in addition to the two ruined
tires.
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said he was told
the injured crane operator was
being treated at a Portland
hospital and was expected to
recover, but the Blue Moun-
tain Eagle could not confirm
that information.
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regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
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2022 appropriations package.
But money may not be
enough. Many prescribed
burners have told the Capital
Press the biggest barriers they
face are legal, not monetary.
Under Oregon law, prescribed
burners carry heavy liability
risks and must comply with
strict air quality laws.
Merkley said better forest
management can’t happen
without more firefighters.
Inter ior Depar t ment
officials agreed, including
Rachael Taylor, principal
deputy assistant secretary
for policy, management and
budget. Taylor said the Inte-
rior Department is convert-
ing 500 seasonal firefighting
positions into year-round
positions that pay a minimum
of $15 per hour.
“Fire season is not a season
anymore,” said Taylor. “It’s a
year-round event.”
While officials talked
about the need for more
firefighters, across Oregon
many fire departments are
preparing to lose significant
numbers of staff and volun-
teers due to Brown’s vaccine
mandate for first responders.
Crane operator hurt in explosion at lumber mill
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
-0s
charred hillsides, blackened
by 2020’s Labor Day fires.
The Legislature, Brown
said, is investing $220 million
in modernizing Oregon’s
firefighting equipment,
putting more “boots on the
ground,” helping vulnerable
communities become more
fire-adaptive and investing
in prescriptive burning and
thinning — work Brown
called “incredibly import-
ant.”
Merkley agreed that
prescribed fire — inten-
tional use of fire to clear
vegetation on the landscape
— is crucial.
“I’ve noticed just a huge
shift in the attitude of the
public about prescribed burns
over this last decade,” said
Merkley. The public, he said,
is becoming more receptive.
Merkley said he’s working
to secure federal dollars for
hazardous fuels reduction:
$230 million in the recent
continuing resolution pack-
age in Congress, $2.4 billion
in the infrastructure pack-
age that passed the Senate
and is in the House, and $650
million to $700 million in the
First
NATIONAL EXTREMES
-10s
anomalies confirm La Nina
conditions are here, accord-
ing to NOAA.
After peaking in early
winter, this La Nina is
expected to linger in a weak-
ened state until the early
spring, NOAA said.
The second of back-to-
back La Nina winters gener-
ally start and end sooner than
Top state, federal officials talk
wildfire management plans
By SIERRA DAWN
MCCLAIN
Capital Press
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
71° 53°
face temperatures along the
equator in the mid-Pacific
start a La Nina. The cool
ocean changes wind patterns
and storm tracts.
In the past week, the
ocean surface in the mid-Pa-
cific has averaged 0.6
degrees Celsius below aver-
age, enough to trigger the
atmospheric changes. Wind
the first, Bond said.
“They do tend to wimp out
a little early,” he said. “I think
it’s still going to deliver us
some good mountain snow.”
In forecasting the strength
and staying power of this La
Nina, NOAA evaluated 22
climate models. Most predict
that sea-surface tempera-
tures will be below average
in November, December and
January.
While NOAA gave a slight
chance for the ocean to return
to average temperatures, it
ruled out that seas will warm
up enough to trigger an El
Nino, which foreshadows
a warm and dry Northwest
winter. Washington’s “snow-
pack drought” in the winter
of 2014-15 occurred during
an El Nino.
NOAA will issue a winter
forecast Oct. 21. The Climate
Prediction Center leans heav-
ily on the sea temperatures
in seasonal outlooks. Clima-
tologists are researching how
climate change will influence
the Pacific’s cool-and-warm
cycle.
Bond said some research
suggests the cycle will be less
pronounced. That could be
good news for the drought-
stricken Southwest, but leave
winter forecasters with less
to go on, he said.
“We lose some of that
predictability and that’s a
little bit of a drag,” Bond said.
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