Erica Fleishman, Director of OSU’s Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, described the continuing October rainfall as “advantageous in a region that has been very hot and dry for a while.” Fleishman also said that storms of this size are a little unusual for the West Coast at this time of year, though not unheard of.
However, for this year’s unusually hot and dry conditions to end, the state will need to see more rain and snow during the upcoming winter season.
Jason Cox, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry, added that while these rains will help in preventing more wildfires and in putting out existing ones, the temperatures and precipitation levels heading into next spring will more likely determine what next year’s fire season will look like.
Fleishman also noted that current rains are not enough to end the state’s still-persisting drought.
“The drought isn’t over,” said Fleishman. “It’s going to take a lot of these types of storms to be in a position where the state is not experiencing drought.”
By Jalen Todd
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