Drought comes to an end
Updated: November 5, 2012
SPRINGFIELD -- This summer's extreme drought is officially over. WCIA-3's Ashley Michels has the latest.
Many thought it would never end. It was one of the worst droughts on record here, but now, it's just a part of history.
These are images defining this year's harsh summer in Central Illinois. Dwindling lake levels, dying crops and scorching temperatures.
Drought 2012 left its mark statewide. But, now we are finally on the road to recovery.
"The combination that we started cooling off and the big factor was the rainfall amount, so it increased across parts of Illinois."
Now, not a single Central Illinois county is in a drought. It's good news for all of us, but experts at the Weather Service in Lincoln say we're not out of the woods just yet.
"If we don't have any good winter rains and snows across the plains and Midwest, we could be having a difficult time here as spring growing season comes around."
That's because even though we've had plenty of rain the past few weeks, we didn't get as much overall compared to other years.
"We're still a little behind the 8-ball here as far as water is concerned."
Meaning we have to play catch up before we can really get back to normal.
"It wouldn't take too much if we start going into a drier pattern to kind of go back in the other direction."
Hopefully that doesn't happen. Officials at the National Weather Service say we are heading into our wet season, so as long as we get a bunch of snow, we'll be in the clear next summer.
Many thought it would never end. It was one of the worst droughts on record here, but now, it's just a part of history.
These are images defining this year's harsh summer in Central Illinois. Dwindling lake levels, dying crops and scorching temperatures.
Drought 2012 left its mark statewide. But, now we are finally on the road to recovery.
"The combination that we started cooling off and the big factor was the rainfall amount, so it increased across parts of Illinois."
Now, not a single Central Illinois county is in a drought. It's good news for all of us, but experts at the Weather Service in Lincoln say we're not out of the woods just yet.
"If we don't have any good winter rains and snows across the plains and Midwest, we could be having a difficult time here as spring growing season comes around."
That's because even though we've had plenty of rain the past few weeks, we didn't get as much overall compared to other years.
"We're still a little behind the 8-ball here as far as water is concerned."
Meaning we have to play catch up before we can really get back to normal.
"It wouldn't take too much if we start going into a drier pattern to kind of go back in the other direction."
Hopefully that doesn't happen. Officials at the National Weather Service say we are heading into our wet season, so as long as we get a bunch of snow, we'll be in the clear next summer.
