Historic low snowpack in many of the state's mountain ranges prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to expand the drought emergency to the entire state Friday morning. Earlier in the year he had issued emergency declarations for some regions that rely on snow runoff from the Cascades, as well as Yakima and some parts of southeastern Washington. 

 

But as of this week, snowpack readings were at record lows at 70 percent of the monitoring stations, two thirds of those sites had "virtually no snow" and river flows were at the lowest readings in 64 years, he said. To view a map of the state's drought conditions, click here.

 

"It's really unlike anything we've experienced," Inslee said.

 

The state Department of Agriculture is projecting $1.2 billion in crop losses as water supplies for irrigation are cut back through a warmer and drier than normal summer that's projected. The Department of Natural Resources is preparing for another difficult wildfire season on the heels of 2014, when the largest fire in state history scorched north central Washington. Residents in rural Eastern Washington are being urged to provide "defensible space" around their houses and other buildings, Mary Verner, DNR deputy supervisor for wildfire and administration, said.