"There is the potential for exceptional and extreme drought conditions to return this summer and fall, especially with a long-range weather forecast for drier-than-normal conditions through the end of May," Easley wrote in a letter to the state's mayors and city and county managers Wednesday.

Easley's letter comes as local officials are easing their restrictions on water use after above-normal rain in March. Raleigh repealed its most severe restrictions on residents and businesses this week, and Durham ended a ban on outdoor irrigation last week.

Mayor Charles Meeker, in announcing that the city was easing up on restrictions, vowed that year-round conservation is now a fact of life.

"Even though reservoir levels have risen," Easley wrote in his letter, "our groundwater resources, which help keep our streams flowing, are still extremely low. This makes North Carolina very vulnerable as summer approaches."

Easley wrote that the state's 100 counties remain in some stage of drought; 45 in the extreme stage and 36 in the severe stage.