East Oregonian : E.O., July 21, 2022, Page 39, Image 39

| 7
SPRING RAIN | BAKER COUNTY
Grass:
Continued from Page 6
After one of the driest
beginnings to a year since
World War II — precipitation
at the Baker City Airport for
January, February and March
totaled just .67 of an inch, 30%
of average — April and May
were comparatively soggy.
Rainfall during the two-
month period amounted to
3.31 inches — 49% above
average.
May, with 2.05 inches, was
the wettest month at the air-
port in almost seven years,
since July 2015 (2.72 inches).
The copious rainfall had a
dramatic eff ect on grass, both in
hay meadows and in the sage-
brush hills where Siddoway and
many other ranchers run their
cattle during the summer.
“It’s going to be a good
grass year,” Siddoway said.
“Meadow hay is going to be far
better than it was last year. It’s
really changed the outlook.”
The cool and damp weather
that dominated spring contin-
ued into the fi rst week or so
of June, with heavy snow fall-
ing on a couple days at higher
elevations of the Elkhorn and
Wallowa mountains.
Summery conditions arrived
in the middle of June, turn-
ing off the tap of Pacifi c mois-
ture and pushing temperatures
as high as 97 at the Baker City
Airport on June 27, the very
day Siddoway was expressing
his gratitude for the bumper
grass crop.
That same day the grass in
meadows near North Powder
was so tall that only the backs
of grazing cattle could be seen
U.S. Drought Monitor
May 31, 2022
Oregon
(Released Thursday, Jun. 2, 2022)
Valid 8 a.m. EDT
Drought Conditions (Percent Area)
Current
Last Week
05-24-2022
3 Months Ago
03-01-2022
Start of
Calendar Year
None
D0-D4 D1-D4 D2-D4 D3-D4
D4
18.70
81.30
73.06
63.39
47.22
11.81
17.41
82.59
74.31
63.57
47.22
11.81
4.97
95.03
90.65
77.27
45.61
16.22
4.16
95.84
89.75
75.37
50.84
17.27
0.00
100.00 100.00 96.47
72.10
26.59
0.00
100.00 97.08
27.36
3.57
01-04-2022
Start of
Water Year
09-28-2021
One Year Ago
06-01-2021
72.03
Intensity:
None
D2 Severe Drought
D0 Abnormally Dry
D3 Extreme Drought
D1 Moderate Drought
D4 Exceptional Drought
The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-scale conditions.
Local conditions may vary. For more information on the
Drought Monitor, go to https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/About.aspx
Author:
Curtis Riganti
National Drought Mitigation Center
droughtmonitor.unl.edu
See Grass, Page 8
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