AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – According to the most recent update from the Texas Water Development Board, drought conditions across the state of Texas expanded overall for the third consecutive week despite some improvement in East Texas.

The latest drought maps showed that as of the beginning of March, the largest area of the state was experiencing drought conditions since November 2022.

Data from the TWDB and US Drought Monitor noted that about 62% of Texas was experiencing drought conditions as of the end of February and the beginning of March, another increase from the last few weeks. The amount of land impacted by drought remained at a significantly lower level than the 81% from the same time last year, but still worse off than the 52% of three months ago or 58% of the previous week.

Nearly unchanged from the previously published map, most of the Texas Panhandle was under “severe” or “extreme drought conditions, with “exceptional” drought conditions concentrated in Dallam, Sherman, and Hansford Counties.

The TWDB went on in its report to highlight the overall drought condition shift during the month of February. As seen in the published data, Texas drought conditions were relatively unchanged in the first week but increased throughout the rest of February, with a 9% net increase in drought area. The most significant expansion of drought appeared mostly centered on parts of coastal and Central Texas.

As Texas continues into the spring fire season and marks the anniversaries of some of its worst recorded fires, most of the Texas Panhandle and the western half of the state remain under outdoor burn ban orders.