WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A Purdue University study suggests that the severe droughts that periodically parch Indiana and Illinois will be short, harsh but rare in the future.

Purdue researchers studied data from the National Climate Data Center to model the future likelihood of droughts in the two states based on precipitation trends between 1916 and 2007.

During that 91-year period, Indiana and much of northeastern Illinois generally saw more rain during the crop-growing May to October season. The two Purdue researchers said that trend suggests less of a chance of widespread, extreme droughts in the future.

But their findings also showed that future dry spells would likely occur later in the summer — the period when crops like corn and soybeans need moisture to produce grains.

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