DR. ROB VAN KIRK Henry’s Fork Foundation Mar 19, 2026
With yet another warm, dry week behind us and record-breaking warmth ahead, outlooks are now confident that water supply for the upcoming irrigation season will be below average.
To start with, climate data for February have been entered into a nationwide database that dates back 131 years, and it is now official that the first five months of the water year were warmest in that record over most of the western U.S. Mean temperature over that period was 7.1 degrees above average in the higher elevations of eastern Idaho and 7.6 degrees above average in the upper Snake River Plain. Water year 2026 through February edged out water year 1934 for the new record, with water year 2015 at third warmest.