A fast change in the weather brings rain to the region. At the Ashland grower’s market, businesses that rely on water, are glad for the sudden rain. “Anything counts,” says Teri White, “[but] there is no snowpack.”

Even a chance of snow on the mountains may not be enough for Runnymede owner White. She irrigates her land out of Evans Creek, which normally fills from runoff.

“We don’t know what’s going to be like in August,” says White.

“We had a prolonged rain deficit at a time when you normally get a lot,” says National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Petrucelli. He examines pictures of the current snow pack. “You can see very little in the way of snow depth. A little around Mount Shasta, maybe the Siskiyou Summit, and mainly Crater Lake. The latest depth at Crater Lake is 45 inches and normal is 117. This is what we had last year at this time. Earlier in the year it really stood out even more,” White says while showing the images.

White says they plan to use a drip line to water crops as opposed to their usual watering method, but that won’t work for everything.

“We’ve got to water our pasture for our cows, that’s one of our main concerns,” says White.

Meanwhile, White is trying to be positive and excited about Spring rain, “Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping we can go through the season.”