Northwest late summer days marred by historic drought, exacerbating wildfires

The briefing

Historic drought across Oregon, Idaho, and Washington has intensified the region's active wildfire season, causing severe water supply shortages for agriculture and utilities. Over 3.5 million acres have burned across the Northwest, fueled by extremely dry vegetation and record-high temperatures. Climatologists warn that depleted reservoir storage will leave little carryover water into the next water year.