BLOOMINGTON - Water began trickling over the spillway ever so slowly at Lake Bloomington on Friday, a signal the drought of 2005-2006 may be nearing an end, said Illinois state climatogist Jim Angel.

Angel stressed it's too early to pronounce the drought over just yet. "But, it could be in the next week or two we could be getting out of it," he said.

There are several positive signs:

- Bloomington Water Director Craig Cummings said Lake Bloomington, one of the city's two water reservoirs, reached full capacity on Friday morning for the first time since June 10, 2005. The 635-foot reservoir was down 11.6 feet on Oct. 19, its lowest point during the year-long drought.

Water at the 900-acre Evergreen Lake, the city's second reservoir, was down 4½ feet on Friday. Its lowest point was 5.9 feet down on March 9. But, because Evergreen's dam was raised 5 feet in the 1990s, Bloomington has a larger reserve of water now than the city had at the start of the major drought of 1988-89.

The city was required to turn off its pumping station that moves water from the Mackinaw River to Evergreen Lake on Friday. Permits force the action when the combined water levels in both reservoirs are down no more than 4 feet. Cummings expects that mark to be reached this weekend because Six Mile Creek, which feeds Evergreen, is flowing.

- March rainfall in Central Illinois lagged behind the rest of Illinois, but the state's midsection is catching up.

Statewide average in March was 4.79 inches compared to an average of 3.2 inches for the month. Bloomington-Normal received 2.28 inches compared to its average 3 inches.

But, the upswing in Bloomington's lake levels was fueled by rainfall which began in late March and continued through the first week of April. The Midwestern Regional Climate Center in Champaign has recorded 2.17 inches of rain in Bloomington-Normal so far this month. Average is about 4 inches for all of April. Statewide, rainfall has averaged 1.1 inches this month.

- Before rains this week, the latest drought monitor, released Tuesday, showed much of Illinois emerging from the drought. At that point, Angel said Bloomington-Normal was on a line that separates an area toward Peoria and north along Interstate 39 still considered in a "moderate drought" from an area to the east considered "moderately dry" where drought conditions no longer exist. Angel thinks once all rainfall from this week is factored in, the scale could improve Bloomington-Normal's classification.

With the exception of some areas, soil moisture for the state as a whole appears ready for the start of planting season, he added.

- The long-term outlook also is improving, he said. Meteorologists at the national Climate Prediction Center said this week they see a weakening in the La Nina which had formed in the Pacific Ocean.

The area of abnormally cold water alters normal weather patterns and brings dry, warm summers to the Midwest. The latest prediction shows the phenomenon fading within one to three months.