THERMOPOLIS, Wyo. (AP) - A severe drought that has gripped the Wind River Basin for two years may be easing, a state climatologist said.

Snowpack in the Wind River Mountain Range is better this year than last year, although the critical months are still ahead, Jan Curtis said.

"We'll know by April 1 how severe the drought will be for 2002," he told the Wind/Bighorn Basin Advisory Group recently.

The amount of precipitation that is needed to return the basin to normal levels increases tenfold each dry year, he said.

Data indicates moisture in 2002 may be about the same as 2001, he said.