Welcome back to the blog!  After a nice vacation, I am back and ready to discuss weather.  How about an all new Thack Fact to kick things off?

Did you know that during the summer of 1988 about 45% of the country was suffering severe-to-extreme drought conditions?  1988 was a very warm year and the blistering heat, along with only trace amounts of rainfall in many areas, led to serious problems with the country's agriculture.  Corn production was cut by one-third, soybean production by one-fifth, and spring wheat production by more than one-half.  Droughts can be devastating to localized areas, but if that area's crops suffer, we could all be affected.  Although we have been below normal in the precipitation department for August, we are still okay for the year as a whole.  We seem to be all right in the drought department...at least for now.