Even after Wednesday's rain, many parts of our region remain very dry.
But what is becoming known as the drought of 2012 is hardly being felt in the Red River Valley area. Most of our region is running about 2 to 4 inches behind average rainfall since the first of the year, or about 70 to 80 percent of average.
The hardest hit areas of the Middle West - Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas - are running 8 to 12 inches behind, or about 50 to 60 percent of average.
And while Fargo-Moorhead was scorched by one day of 100-degree weather, Kansas City residents have endured 20 days of 100 degrees or hotter. People in Des Moines have weathered 11. People in Indianapolis, nine.
This is not to diminish the fact that our summer has been dry or that many crops will be affected. It is just that this drought is so much worse farther south.
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