doc_text: Weather experts discussed the drought Thursday and its possible causes and effects, and said they hoped to produce a consensus on how much longer it will last.
  All of the speakers at the 1988 Drought Symposium called for more research and study.
  "There's an enormous number of possibilities that one could chase.
  The next business of the scientist is to eliminate the possibilities of ... and extend the range of analysis and look for cause and effect," said David Rodenhuis, director of the federal Climate Analysis Center in Washington.
  The symposium attended by 13 state and national experts was sponsored by The Weather Channel, an Atlanta-based cable network, which broadcast the meeting live.
  John Hope, the network's hurricane specialist and a former forecaster with the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla., said the drought in the Southeast might be lessened or ended in the next few months by a heavier than normal hurricane season.
  Hope said current weather conditions point to more tropical storms, more of which should become hurricanes, in this hurricane season.
  He stressed that a hurricane's effect on drought is variable, depending on the intensity and speed of the storm.
  Nevertheless, he said, some Southeastern states get as much as 25 pecent of their rainfall in some months from hurricanes.
  Georgia state climatologist Gayther Plummer told the symposium he thought the position of the planet Jupiter had something to do with drought in the Southeast.
  However, Rodenhuis said he was skeptical about Plummer's thesis.
  "It's very necessary to be cautious and analytical about the issue," he said.
summary_text: Today's 1988 Drought Symposium, sponsored by The Weather Channel, was attended by 13 state and national Weather experts.
  David Rodenhuis, director of the federal Climate Analysis Center in Washington, stressed the need to eliminate cause-and-effect possibilities and extend the range of analysis.
  Georgia state climatologist Gayther Plummer thought the drought in the SE was related to the position of Jupiter, but Rodenhuis remained skeptical.
  Hurricane specialist John Hope suggested the SE drought might be lessened or ended by a heavier than normal hurricane season.
  Some SE states get as much as 25% of their rainfall some months from hurricanes.