From July 1 to the end of summer, Bend received less than a fifth of an inch of rain, which made that period the fifth-driest on record, according to John Peck, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Pendleton.
Summer is often a dry time across much of Central Oregon, with an average of about an inch and a half of rain falling in Bend between July and September.
Still, the abnormally dry weather this year plunged the region further into drought, forcing irrigation districts to draw down local reservoirs and raising big questions about Central Oregon’s next irrigation season.
Gorman said that water levels in the reservoir are just 12 feet from what the Oregon Water Resources Department considers empty.
The low levels make it nearly impossible for the reservoir to fill this year.
A dry winter has a more dramatic effect on water levels for irrigation than a dry summer does, but Central Oregon had both this year, Gorman said.
Low snow totals, especially in the high country, left the Deschutes River Basin with less water than expected, and kept the underground flows in the area from being replenished, he said.
“I can recall maybe three or four days where we saw thunderstorms,” Peck said.
Because those thunderstorms never came this summer, the demand for water from reservoirs was higher than it would be in an average year, Gorman said.
Unlike last year, when the Milli Fire burning outside of Sisters made air throughout Central Oregon unhealthy for weeks, much of the smoke came from fires nowhere near Central Oregon, Svelund said.