The latest Drought Monitor released Thursday suggests the situation in the Southern Plains is becoming "rapidly dire." February 14th marked the 124th consecutive day without rain in Amarillo, Texas, and the 98th consecutive day without measurable precipitation for Lubbock, Texas. The western half of Oklahoma and northern Texas are classified in an extreme drought, with nearly all of both states in some form of drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor says impacts will rapidly escalate if rain does not materialize soon, noting that the lack of rainfall is affecting winter wheat, pastures, pond levels and streamflows. Nearly all of the Southwestern U.S., including California, meanwhile, are in some form of classified drought, along with all of Missouri and Kansas, parts of Iowa and Nebraska, and the Dakota’s. In the Southeastern U.S., drought conditions improved due to an abundance of rainfall in the last week.