DeKalb County is in an extreme drought. The area has been about 25 inches behind in precipitation during the past three years.

NIU Staff Meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste said one of the reasons for the drought may be the lack of storms in northern Illinois. The jet stream pushed the storms to the north.

The high amount of sunshine this summer caused warmer ocean waters, causing numerous tropical storms along the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, which pushed the jet stream to the north, he said.

The jet stream usually lays straight across Illinois and divides the southern warm air mass from the northern cold air mass. This leaves DeKalb in a warmer climate unable to reach its dew point, deterring any rain, Sebenste said.

He does not know if DeKalb can expect the same weather results next year because tropical storms cannot be predicted on an annual basis.

However, the dry spell is predicted to last through winter. Hurricane Wilma is brewing in the Western Caribbean and may keep the jet stream above DeKalb.

Wilma is this year’s 21st tropical storm. The only time this many tropical storms erupted was more than 70 years ago in 1933 when a slew of storms bombarded the Caribbean.

Although DeKalb was not hit directly by the southern storms, the county still suffers crop damage.

Mike Hardt, assistant manager for the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, said about 30 percent of DeKalb’s crops have been harvested and a deficiency was observed. Instead of the average 180 bushels per acre, DeKalb will probably harvest 159 bushels per acre this year.

However, the crops are not as bad as expected. Certain crops such as soybeans and wheat are actually doing quite well because of the rain in August, Hardt said.

Future drought devastation is not a worry for Illinois meteorologists.

“It will be easy for us to catch up,” said Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel.

All northern Illinois needs is one good spring or a month of a couple inches more rainfall, Angel said.

Multiple-year droughts are rare in Illinois. The last time a multiple-year drought occurred was back in 1956, he said.

The next couple months will be warmer and dryer than past years, which could hurt vegetation because of the lack of moisture.

“But I’m cautiously optimistic about next spring,” Angel said.