Recent rains brought Cedar Creek Lake up a foot, but it is still 2.81 feet below normal. The National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office issued its latest report Jan. 8 about the ongoing drought, advising that the next three-month period would require at least three more inches of rain to ease dry conditions in this area of North Texas. The Climate Prediction Center noted that there is no strong signal indicating whether there will be continued drought or ample rainfall in the area of Cedar Creek Lake and its surrounding agricultural land. In 2011 when Cedar Creek Lake dropped to 8-feet below normal, unexpected winter rains in early 2012 returned the lake level to normal. The Cedar Creek Lake area now enjoys far more favorable conditions than in the Panhandle and Deep South Texas, where rainfall of six to nine inches is needed to relieve those areas of drought conditions. The national outlook for extended drought encompasses virtually all of Texas, the Midwest and the Southwest. Visit http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/?n=drought for more information.