Normally in Washington, around the start of June you’d want to see a nice, drawn-out melting of the mountain snowpack. Over time that water drains into the state’s reservoirs, where it powers our hydro plants, cities and farms.

But this year, state officials are saying Washington’s drought conditions are sinking from bad to worse. On Thursday, they expanded the state’s drought emergency to areas of Western Washington, including portions of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

The state saw a poor snowpack generally over the winter, a bad start on the heels of drought years in 2024 and 2023. Then, warmer-than-normal temperatures began to melt that snow faster than normal, forcing the excess water to wash downstream and into the Pacific Ocean rather than remaining in reservoirs.

Before wi

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