ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO): Last September the official forecast called for a relatively severe winter, but what we got was one of the mildest on record. That outcome prompted WOWO News to ask: What’s the outlook going into this summer?

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center is forecasting drought conditions in an area centering over the Ohio River along the southern border of Indiana. Fort Wayne is on the far edge of that. However, 12 states across the Midwest are already experiencing some measure of drought.

DNR biologist Jed Pearson, has been monitoring northeast Indiana lake temperatures, oxygen levels and water clarity factors and says what the current conditions are telling us.

“Well it seems like the weather conditions are a lot like they were back in 2012.”

If you recall, 2012 has become known as the drought year.