Below Normal Snowpack & Holiday Travel

Below Normal Snowpack & Holiday Travel plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Well a very Merry Christmas to everyone. It appears that the lack of a snowpack this holiday season may affect future irrigation water, in the Pacific mountain ranges so far this season according to USDA meteorologist Eric Luebehusen.

LUBEHUSEN: Across much of the Pacific Coast region we are looking at current water year precipitation averaging anywhere between 20% of normal to 30-40% of normal. With locally lower amounts as you head south into Northern California. We're looking at another return of that eastern Pacific ridge of high pressure that's going to extend right along the Pacific Coast all the way up in to Alaska and that ridge is going to maintain generally dry weather across much of the western half of the country.

I guess that would be good news for people traveling out here in the west and northwest this holiday season. AAA projects 94.5 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holiday season, an increase of 0.6 percent from the 94 million people who traveled last year. This upward trend marks the fifth consecutive year of increases and the highest travel volume recorded for the season.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

No matter your religious affiliation it's hard not to get into the spirit of Christmas, especially when looked at through the eyes of a child. Children don't question the magic of Christmas, they just embrace it with wide eyed wonderment. Reindeer can fly? Of course they can. A "right jolly old elf" can visit all the children around the globe leaving presents in his wake all in one night - affirmative. My grandchildren have helped restore the "magic" of the Christmas season for me. I'm glad to once again be one of the "believers". My granddaughter informed me the other day while decorating Christmas cookies that we had to make extra for Santa with extra sprinkles because Santa really likes sprinkles. I can believe that. I've long been a fan of sprinkles myself. My grandson who was decorating a snowman cookie for his Dad during this discussion said that Santa got to eat all the cookies he wanted on Christmas eve and he didn't get into trouble by Mrs. Santa for getting crumbs on the floor because he ate them at somebody else's house, but maybe we should put out the "dust-buster" this year just in case. By the way this year's Christmas cookies were the prettiest and best tasting cookies ever, because they were made with the magical touch of a child. Merry Christmas everyone.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.