Hot and dry weather in Texas creates need for a burn ban - Glen Rose

Everyone knows it's hot, but go outside the city to the country and you see what the extreme heat and lack of rain is doing. You can no longer cool off tuding in a local river or stream, because they have dried up. And where you use to have to leap from stone to stone to cross the Paluxy River at the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas, it is now dry. And no fun for kids and families to explore where dinosuars left foot prints in the mud millions of years ago.

Because of the dry conditions across the nations's second-leading agricultural state food prices are rising as Texas endures it's worst drought in decades. To help famers and ranchers the U.S. Agriculture Department designated the entire state a nautual disaster on June 28.

Only half the usual amount of rainfall fell in May, which is typically the wettest month of the year .

The state is enduring the worst wildfire season ever. More than 3 million acres have been scorched by the wildfires. It appears agriculture in Texas will experience their worst single-year lost on record, topping the $4.1 billion (USD) set in 2006.