Early burn bans make sense to hydrologist
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Umatilla County began a non-agricultural burn ban yesterday (Tuesday) at noon. The agricultural ban begins June 16. It’s following similar declarations set in other communities, and National Weather Service Hydrologist Marilyn Lohmann said that forecasts indicate that’s a smart move.
“Our outlook for June does call for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation,” she said.
What’s coming in June is only made more threatening by what happened from March to May. She said that three-month period was the driest on record for a number of communities including Pendleton.
“The three-month precipitation was only 1.01 inches,” she said of the measurement at the weather station in Pendleton. “The previous driest was 1.03 inches back in 1963.”
Lohmann said other communities setting dryness records for those months include Walla Walla, Heppner, and John Day.
