From the Cliff High Volume Weather Blog
I’m getting tired of writing about the Seattle Times, but their misinformation is simply getting worse, and I think you should know about it.
Be on the front page of the Seattle Times online yesterday. There is a big picture showing the arid landscape of eastern Washington with the headline that eastern Washington will face another summer of sparse water supplies (see below).
Problem? Their title is not true. The evidence is clear and unequivocal.
After a very cool, wet spring, soil moisture was higher than normal for most of eastern Washington, including much of the arid farming region where wheat and barley are grown. This is an image taken in Palouse last week by very talented professional photographer Jack Graham. Does it look any different from the pictures on the Seattle Times?
There is near-normal soil moisture in the desert area from Yakima/Tri-Cities to Lake Moses, where most farming uses irrigation water.
Soil moisture with green color above normal
What about irrigation water? Reservoirs on the Yakima River have higher than normal water reserves, and the Columbia River water forecast is very good (see below). More water for irrigated agriculture and even lower rights farmers will be taken care of. Snowfall was higher than usual. The rivers are above normal.
To sum up, the headline in the Seattle Times doesn’t reflect reality and provides another example of the newspaper providing poor information to its readers.
Also on the front page of the Seattle Times was a story that Colorado would lose half its snow by 2080 and look like Arizona. The research paper making these extreme claims has all sorts of technical problems, including the use of completely unrealistic assumptions about greenhouse gas increases (RCP8.5). Furthermore, the models used do not have sufficient resolution to accurately simulate convective showers (thunderstorms) in the warm season of the region and how such showers will change as The Earth is warming.
The Seattle Times always publishes “stories” about the importance of local journalism. I believe that responsible, accurate local journalism is very important. How sad that the Seattle Times exaggeration, hype and advocacy, coupled with blatant misinformation, is making a statement against the merits of local newspapers.
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