LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The dry, mild winter has put nearly 61 percent of the lower 48 states in "abnormally dry" or drought conditions. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal tracking of drought, it's the highest percentage of dry or drought conditions since September 2007, when 61.5 percent of the U.S. fell into these categories.

In fact, only two states, Ohio and Alaska are entirely free of abnormally dry or drought conditions, according to the Drought Monitor.

More worrisome is the fact that the drought is expanding into some areas where dryness is rare, such as New England.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, stream flow levels are at record or near-record lows in much of New England. The monitor lists all of Vermont as "abnormally dry," just six months after the state's wettest August on record from flooding brought on by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.

So far this year, Connecticut has endured its driest January-March period ever. This followed the state's wettest year on record.

"Conditions are starting to worry us now," Keith Eggleston, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center says.

The drought is chiefly an agricultural concern in the Northeast at this point, Eggleston says. While agricultural conditions in the Northeast could be dangerous if the dry weather continues as the growing season kicks off, water shortages for the public shouldn't be an issue. Most water reservoirs were near or at capacity due to the early-season snowmelt and thaw, and to wetter conditions in the past.

The rest of the eastern U.S. is also very dry. "We expanded the drought intensity and coverage in the Southeast and up and down the East Coast," meteorologist David Miskus of the Climate Prediction Center says. Miskus prepared this week's update of the Monitor. "Georgia is one area we'll really have to watch," says Miskus. More than 63 percent of the state is now in the worst two levels of drought, the highest percentage of any state.

In addition, wildfires and brush fires have been common along the East Coast from New England to Florida in recent weeks due to the wind and the dryness and windy conditions.

As water levels continue to decline in bone-dry southern Florida, the South Florida Water Management District has issued a water shortage warning from Key West to Orlando.

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