Winter in Oregon is off to a better start.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

Nearly normal: That sums up the winter weather so far this year. And in contrast to last year's mild December, that's nearly a complete turnaround.

Lots of statistics can be cited to describe the difference between the end of 2002 and the end of 2003. The most telling number may be total precipitation - rain and the water content of snow - since Oct. 1.

Last year, total precipitation stood at 55 percent of average in the Willamette basin. This year, it's 90 percent of average.

"We definitely have started off better," said George Taylor, the state climatologist at Oregon State University. "It's moving in the right direction. December has been a pretty good month."

Automated stations that take snowpack measurements daily on the west slope of the Cascades show a range of healthy readings: from a low of 77 percent of average at the 3,400-foot elevation to a high of 101 percent of average at a site 5,500 feet above sea level.

That means business at ski areas, and no one knows better than Tim Wiper how much better this year's season has begun. The owner of Willamette Pass doesn't care to dwell on the 2002-03 season, which may have been the worst in 20 years.

"There's really no comparison to one year ago. Last year was a struggle for everyone in the Northwest," Wiper said.

Back then, Willamette Pass opened Dec. 20 - two weeks past its average opening date - with three lifts running and limited terrain open. Some parts of the mountain along Highway 58 never opened through the winter for lack of snow.

This year, the ski area opened Nov. 26 and is operating all lifts. It already has about 40 inches of snow at the lodge, and Wiper is looking forward to a long, busy season for alpine and Nordic skiing as well as sledding.

"This year so far is great skiing," he said. "The people going up there have got big smiles."

October was a bit drier than normal in Oregon, and November was close to average. December has been wetter than average in the state, including in Eugene.

But since Oct. 1, rainfall for the city is 81 percent of normal. And for the calendar year, it's about 77 percent of average.

Usually, 40 percent of the snowpack that accumulates in the Cascades each winter is on the ground by Jan. 1.

"We still have a lot of winter to go," said Clinton Rockey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. "Our big snow months tend to be in January and February."

Although last year was warmer and drier than normal, giving Oregon one of the worst snowpacks in the West, a late burst of wet, cool weather helped salvage the season.

Two weeks before spring, a March storm piled snow in the northern half of the Oregon Cascades, dumping several feet in places over about three days.

"Last year was a very wet spring," Taylor said. "We ended up in most basins close to average."

But overall, the past three years have been dry in Oregon. One or two wetter than normal winters are needed to allow reservoirs, aquifers and springs to recover, particularly east of the Cascades, officials say.

Taylor said he's not sure the state ever recovered from an especially dry winter in 2000-01. Some reservoirs, such as the enormous Owyhee Reservoir in southeastern Oregon, are so low they went empty this year, he said.

"Realistically, I think we need a wetter than average year east of the Cascades to make up for that deficit," he said.

Taylor's forecast calls for above-average precipitation and near-average temp- eratures for January, February and March.

That pretty well matches what the National Weather Service anticipates, Rockey said.

"It looks like most of the winter should treat us nicely and set us up pretty well for the summer," he said.

The key, Rockey said, is whether the state can avoid the kind of warm, dry spell in midwinter that spoiled last year's snowpack.

"We have a good start," he said. "Let's just hope it doesn't shut off early."