In a normal water year, by the end of July the BYU weather station would have measured about 17.45 inches of precipitation. This year, the total is less than 13 inches, though the mountains in the area fared better in the winter.

"We've kind of been on the short end of the stick as far as rain goes in the valley," said David James, BYU weather station overseer. "For the most part, the valley has pretty much been missed."

The skies have been cloudy and ominous-looking for most of the week, but haven't produced much rain. There have been showers here and there, including rain that caused a mud slide on U.S. Highway 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon Thursday afternoon.

James said storms have been hitting southern Utah and then moving north. The clouds move over Utah Valley overnight, preventing the sun from heating the air, which is one of the ingredients in a summertime thunderstorm. If the valley doesn't get some rain today, it might be a while before there's another chance.

According to the National Weather Service, there's a 30 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms in the area after noon today, with a 20 percent chance on Sunday afternoon. After Sunday, there's no rain in the forecast until Thursday, when there's a slight chance.

July is usually the driest month of the year, and June and August aren't far behind, James said. But during this water year, which ends Sept. 30, only one month has been above normal -- December. January and February were about two-thirds of normal, and March and April were also dry. May was a little wetter but still below normal, and June and July had about one-third of the normal amount of precipitation.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," he said. "The valleys have been below normal. The snowpack was good in the mountains, but not in the valley."

Last year's valley precipitation totals weren't good either, he said. Last year the total precipitation in the valley was 13.85 inches, instead of the normal annual total of about 20 inches.

As of May 1, the basin-wide average for the Provo River, Utah Lake and Jordan River was at 103 percent of normal precipitation, with the snow water equivalent at 126 percent of normal, according to the National Water and Climate Center.