[AP] Recent Texas rains a blip; lakes not filling

LUBBOCK Weather officials say they considered reclassifying parts of North Texas into the least severe stage of drought but held off because recent rains haven't boosted lakes levels.

National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy said Wednesday that bone-dry soil suffering from the state's worst single-year drought is sucking up the rainfall before it runs into reservoirs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and parts of northeast Texas.

Lake levels are a part of what weather officials use to decide drought-stage categories around the country each week.

Murphy says recent rains will help drought conditions in the short term, but the precipitation forecast for coming months remains bleak.

All lakes in the north central part of the state are down by double-digit percentages over a year ago.