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Drought
Drought Summary
Drought Impacts in Morrow County
Drought is a normal, recurrent feature of the climate in eastern Oregon. The environment and economy of Morrow County are vulnerable to the impact drought can have when there is a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more. Also, the impacts of drought are often exacerbated by the demand placed on the water supply in the region's aquifers, high temperatures, high winds, and low humidity. These are all conditions that exist in Morrow County during the summer months. Drought in Morrow County has a serious effect on the local agricultural economy and the associated businesses that depend on the success of the local economy. During times of low regional snow-pack in the mountains, the resulting restrictions on water wells for irrigation caused losses to farmers who cannot irrigate their crops as usual, as well as for dry-land wheat farmers who are coping with lack of local rainfall.
Drought History and Location in Morrow County:
Morrow County has had a State of Drought Emergency and was declared a Disaster Area by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in September 2001 and experienced another Drought Emergency in April 2005 and in August 2013. According to the National Climatic Data Center of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the northeast corner of Oregon has been experiencing persistent drought conditions since 1999. Precipitation in Oregon since October 2000 is only 76 percent of the 60-month normal. The 60-month period ending September 2005 was among the driest such October - September 60 month periods in the last 111 years. There was no recorded precipitation in the region in August and September, which was unprecedented in 100 years of record.
To assess the severity of the drought, tree ring data from a 275-year tree-ring reconstruction (1705-1979) of water year precipitation was consulted. The most significant feature in the last 100 years is a severe and extended drought in the 1930s. The precipitation was below normal for 10 years in a row (1928-1937). The 1999-2005 drought is similar to the 1930s drought in terms of duration and severity. The worst drought years of 2001 and 1977 were probably exceeded in severity by only a few years in the two preceding centuries.
The Long-Term Drought Indicator generated by the Climate Prediction Center for the U.S. Department of Commerce has seasonally variable data based on the ever-changing current conditions but the Objective Long-Term Drought Indicator shows Morrow County as in "Moderate Drought" in December 2005 and "Abnormally Dry" in June 2006. During the period of 2006 - 2013, the Palmer Drought Index shows mostly mid-range precipitation. There were periods of moderate drought not lasting more than 4 months at a time and periods of moderately moist conditions, especially in 2011.
