NOAA warned there is no sign that drought in the Northwest and northern Rockies will ease this spring. With snowpack as much as 75 percent below normal, it will be difficult to make up the shortfall as the region's annual wet season winds down.

"Drought is a major story this spring," said Conrad Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator. "We don't see anything on the horizon in the next several months ... that will make a big difference in that area."

The NOAA forecast covers the April to June period.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire recently declared a statewide drought emergency, asking residents to take shorter showers, flush the toilet less often and skip washing their cars. The combination of drought and high temperatures will also hurt crops, salmon and forests, she said.

NOAA said dry conditions could increase the risk of wildfires in the Northwest, especially in Montana, Idaho and Oregon where moderate to extreme drought now covers about three-fourths of area.

However, a multiyear drought over other Western states eased during the winter because of an unusually large number of storms, NOAA said. The Southwest had its wettest winter on record, and Los Angeles had a record 29 inches of rain.

Forecasters cautioned that while the rain brought some much-needed relief, several years of above-average rain are needed to end the drought. Reservoirs remain low in the Southwest with storage at 17 percent of capacity in Nevada and 29 percent in New Mexico, creating the potential for local water shortages.

WARMER SPRING IN SOUTH, WEST

Spring will bring warmer-than-normal temperatures to the US Southwest, extreme West and mid-Atlantic regions, NOAA said. Cooler weather and above-normal rainfall are forecast for western parts of the Great Lakes and the southern Plains.

In the northern High Plains, which have been mired in a drought, rain is forecast to ease dry conditions by June, NOAA said. However, a smaller-than-average winter snowpack will likely hinder reservoir levels in the Missouri Basin.

Douglas Le Comte, senior NOAA meteorologist, said rain will bring the most benefit to southern Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas, where winter wheat is beginning to emerge and conditions are dry.

"We don't see any large scale drought developing in the Midwest," said Le Comte. He added that a recent series of small storms sweeping through the Midwest have helped boost soil moisture needed for crops this spring.