Be it a samba, rumba or some kind of interpretive number, you might want to break out your best rain dance.

Soon.

Five more North Dakota counties issued burn bans Thursday, running the total to 27 - just more than half the state. The National Weather Service plans to issue yet another fire-weather watch today for most of the central and western part of the state.

Things haven't been this dry for - well, it's only been two years. But the drought of 2006 was one of the worst in state history. The rainfall total in Bismarck that April was three-quarters of an inch. So far this April, Bismarck has had just seven hundredths.

Practice that samba, because there's a chance of precipitation in the forecast this weekend. A cold front will move into the state from the Rocky Mountains, bringing the possibility of an odd mix of thunderstorms and snow.

Meteorologist Janine Vining said the best chance of moisture is Sunday night, when the odds could be as good as 50-50 that it will snow in far western North Dakota and rain in the central and east. Snow totals could be half an inch to an inch, she said.

"Hopefully, though, most of it will be rain,"she said. "That's what everybody wants."

The counties that banned fires Thursday were Burke, Eddy, Hettinger, McKenzie and Mountrail. Since Monday, 12 counties have joined the list, according to the state Division of Emergency Services.

The full list, in reverse order of declaration date:

Mountrail, Eddy, Burke, Hettinger, McKenzie and Pierce. Golden Valley, Sheridan, Ward, Wells, Renville and McHenry. Bottineau, Logan, Burleigh, Emmons, Kidder and Morton. Oliver, McIntosh, Grant, Stark, Bowman and Billings. Slope, Dunn and Mercer.

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@bismarcktribune.com.)