Wildfires have burned about 1.5 million acres in Texas since January, egged on by a drought that federal forecasters say is the worst to hit the state in 45 years. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say their weather models predict the severe drought that has parched the southern United States will continue to midsummer -- and beyond.
"Predictions over weeks to one to three months suggest the drought will continue, and even intensify, in some areas as we struggle to get any rainfall," said David Brown, director of climate services for NOAA's Southern Region.
"This really is a historical climate event affecting our region," he said, calling conditions "extreme and exceptional."
Drought has hit a wide swath of the southern United States, stretching from Arizona to Florida, with central states like Texas the hardest hit.
The map of current conditions maintained by the U.S. Drought Monitor shows more than half of the state colored red -- indicating an "extreme" drought, expected to recur every 20 to 50 years -- or maroon -- indicating an "exceptional" drought seen every 50 to 100 years.
The so-called "extreme" drought also stretches west, into southern New Mexico and Arizona, and east, into southern Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Panhandle, western Louisiana and southern Arkansas.
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