Seattle Times Provides Deceptive and False Information on Washington State Drought

Truth should be important to the Seattle Times. 

Professional integrity and honesty should be a priority.  

Providing the public with accurate information on an important public issue should be paramount.

But when it comes to issues dealing with climate, the Seattle Times has descended into advocacy, hype, and exaggeration, unsupported by facts and actual science.   

Articles written by the Seattle Times Climate Lab, which receives financial support from climate advocacy groups, are the most concerning, as illustrated by the deceptive, unfactual article published yesterday.

The article, How bad is Washington's summer drought going to get?, starts with a large picture of a major reservoir (Lake Keechelus)--see below

The picture shows a completely empty lake, and the legend describes a "depleted Lake Keechelus" and that this total lack of water is a "familiar scene."

Totally deceptive and wrong.  The truth is that the lake is nearly full, as shown by an image total from a WSDOT cam:

Don't believe your eyes?   The official measurements of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation indicate the lake was 95% full two days ago (it is now 96%):

Still not convinced?  Below is a plot of this year's lake level (blue line) versus normal (red line).   

Lake levels are now WAY above normal....in fact, exceeding the normal maximum levels in early summer.  So high, reservoir managers reduced the level a bit to avoid flooding.

So the headline claim of the article was wrong...and they had to know this.

I am hardly warming up regarding the ST tall tales.   Much of the article is factually wrong.

For example, it tells us:

"This summer is expected to be especially hot and dry, too, Mellor pointed out. El Niño conditions are moving in from the tropics."

This is nonsensical.   We are still in a La Niña (see below), and the transition to Neutral and then El Niño conditions will only occur during the summer.

Blue colors indicate temperatures below normal

Even more important, Northwest summer precipitation has very little correlation with El Niño and La Niña--even if it were in place.   

This figure from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, which shows the precipitation anomalies from normal for an El Niño summer, shows this clearly.

Don't believe NOAA and only trust online AI?  Here is what Gemini gave me:

Key Correlations & Current Trends

• Weak Summer Link: Meteorologists note that El Niño does not have as significant an impact on the region in the spring and summer as it does in winter.

Lack of water for hydropower?

Then the article warns about the lack of water for Seattle hydropower, and particularly the Ross Reservoir.   Turns out both rainfall and snowfall have been relatively healthy in the North Cascades this winter, and the reservoir level is now much higher than the previous year (see below).  I note that the Ross Reservoir almost filled last year (see below).

Seattle's power generation will have sufficient water!

Perhaps the writer of the Seattle Times scare piece should have checked the best long-term forecasts.   

Here is the latest prediction of summer precipitation from the best (European Center).  WETTER THAN NORMAL OVER WESTERN AND FAR EASTERN Washington.  Normal for the rest.

The Seattle Times is failing our community, providing demonstrably false information regarding climate change.   Hyping and exaggerating climate threats.  

Providing such wrong information is hurting our community, resulting in very poor decision-making, including the waste of billions of dollars (e.g., the CCA).