Bureau County residents and farmers may have some good news on the horizon when it comes to the possibility of having another drought like the one that plagued the area last summer.

When looking at the Top 10 driest years in Illinois since 1895, Illinois state climatologist Jim Angel said weather records show none of those drought years were back-to-back to each other, which is comforting news. The 2012 year is listed as the 10th driest year on record statewide in Illinois.

However, looking at the years following the Top 10 drought years, Angel said the 1963-64 and 1988-89 years were noteworthy. While the second year in both cases were not as severe in their precipitation deficits, and none of them made it into the Top 10, the numbers are still worrisome. In fact, 1964 ended up as the 14th driest and 1989 as the 16th driest on record, he said.