Drought fears looming in northeast Indiana

By Jenni Glenn, The Journal Gazette

Scattered showers last week quelled some farmers' worries, but they did not alter the developing drought forecast for northeast Indiana.

The National Weather Service predicted a drought is likely to develop in northern Indiana by September. Moderate drought conditions in the southern half of the state will likely worsen or persist. Drought conditions are spreading into the region from the southeast, said Douglas LeComte, a drought specialist with the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md.

Most of Adams and Wells counties already are experiencing moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor Web site, which is run by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska and the Climate Prediction Center as well as other federal agencies. A drought is developing in the rest of northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. Only northern LaGrange and Steuben counties have sufficient precipitation, according to the center's most recent report issued Thursday.