CEDAR CREEK LAKE -- Recent rain brought relief to parched lawns and fields in North Central Texas, but the drought is far from over, according to the Climate Prediction Center. Three recent rainfalls failed to visibly raise the level of Cedar Creek Lake, and the water level continues to rest at seven-foot below normal. At best, the rainfall kept the lake from dropping any lower because there was not enough rain to create runoff. Climatoligists predict the severe drought will persist in North Central Texas, which includes Cedar Creek Lake, through year's end. But fears that a repeat of the great Texas drought of the 1950s could be imminent now appear unfounded. There is reason to be optimistic the drought could let up in 2012 because weather experts are predicting the approaching winter will be less harsh than it was last year. The severity of last year's winter contributed to the widespread drought conditions seen in Texas, according to the weather experts. Some long-term forecasts raise hope for close to normal precipitation in North Central Texas which would go a long way toward refilling Cedar Creek Lake. Probably nothing could make home and business owners happier than to see rainfall return to normal and the lake level to rise again. Photographs taken around the lake this week captured scenes of docks without water and beaches where water once stood. During the summer many residents moved their patio tables and chairs to the beaches to be nearer the water. At a marina in Seven Points, a boat named Imagination sits in the grass and sand where it came to rest after the water disappeared. As the lake level dropped some newer Cedar Creek Lake residents reportedly feared they were witnessing the 46-year-old lake's destruction, but oldtimers note the level has dropped as low twice before. The lake level receded similarly in the 1980s and the 1990s.