News | Washington State Climate Office

May 5, 2025 | May 2025 Newsletter, Snowpack and Drought Summary

April 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

Spring melt began in earnest this month. Snowpack has fallen further behind our typical 1991-2020 totals as of May 1, 2025, largely as a result of dry conditions, warmer than normal temperatures, and earlier than usual melt.

May 5, 2025 | Climate Matters, May 2025 Newsletter, Seasonal, Trends

Trends in the Timing of Spring Across Washington

There are a truly dizzying number of ways to measure the start of spring: Is it when lilacs start blooming and grapevines begin to leaf out? Or is it that first warm day of the season when local parks fill up?

May 5, 2025 | May 2025 Newsletter, Notable Weather Events

April 2025 Notable Weather Events

April 2025 featured above average temperatures and below average precipitation. The bulk of this month’s rainfall fell from April 6-10 as an active weather pattern impacted primarily western Washington and the Pacific Coast.

Apr 17, 2025 | Climate Outlook

Late April 2025 Climate Outlook

What’s Next for the Pacific Northwest?
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
ENSO-neutral conditions have officially returned and are likely to continue through summer.
Sea surface temperatures in the Tropical Pacific continued to warm throughout March and have returned to near-normal.

Apr 9, 2025 | Media Coverage

WA faces drought emergency for a third year after middling snowpack

Washington is once more under a drought emergency, state officials announced Tuesday, marking the third such declaration in as many years and underscoring the damage wrought by year-after-year droughts.
Droughts here can take on a variety of “flavors,” said Karin Bumbaco, deputy state climatologist.

Apr 4, 2025 | April 2025 Newsletter, Climate Summary

March 2025 Climate Summary

Precipitation anomalies were largely above normal across the state this March. The largest wet anomalies were across the Olympic Peninsula, the western side of the Cascades and near Mt. Baker, the Columbia Gorge, and across portions of far northern and northeastern Washington.

Apr 4, 2025 | April 2025 Newsletter, Climate Outlook

Early April 2025 Climate Outlook

As of March 31st, a La Niña advisory is still in place according to the Climate Prediction Center (CPC). Nevertheless, La Niña conditions have continued to weaken, and we are expecting to enter a neutral ENSO phase during April.

Apr 4, 2025 | April 2025 Newsletter, Climate Matters, Climate Review, Climate Variability, Drought and Soil Conditions

The Fifth Pacific Northwest Water Year 2024 Impacts Assessment

The fifth Pacific Northwest (PNW) Water Year Impacts Assessment, released in March, chronicles the water year, its impacts, and how people responded across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho during the 2024 water year (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024).

Apr 4, 2025 | April 2025 Newsletter, Notable Weather Events

March 2025 Notable Weather Events

March came in like a lamb with fairly settled weather, near-normal temperatures, and generally light precipitation across the state. Wetter systems arrived beginning in the second week of the month and brought steady, beneficial precipitation across much of the state.

Map of Washington Snow Water Equivalent as a percent of 1991-2020 median, organized by basin.

Apr 4, 2025 | April 2025 Newsletter, Snowpack and Drought Summary

March 2025 Snowpack and Drought Summary

March was an eventful month for snowpack due to a steady and large increase in snowpack in the middle of the month followed by significant melt-out due to the March 25-26th warm spell.