Birmingham, AL – The National Weather Service says the ice and snow that struck Alabama earlier this month did not break the state's persistent drought.
The weather service says the drought is likely to remain in force in the Southeast into the spring.
Roger McNeil, hydrologist with the weather service office in Calera, says the recording station at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport recorded 47.84 inches of rain last year, 6.15 inches below normal.
So far in the new year, Birmingham is running below normal.
The U.S. Drought Monitor says as of Tuesday, more than 85 percent of the state was at some stage of drought. That's up from 72 percent the week before.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)