According to a report at NewsChannel10.com, federal and state experts in drought assessment and long-range forecasting are expected to provide an overview of the critical situation facing much of the United States' southern high plains.
They're meeting Friday as dry conditions intensify from the plains of eastern New Mexico to the Texas Panhandle and parts of Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The latest map shows swaths of red covering the Four Corners Region and the southern high plains, indicating extreme to exceptional drought - the worst categories of drought.
For Oklahoma, this marks the first time exceptional drought has made an appearance since May 2015.
In New Mexico, the lack of water and an unseasonably warm winter have already resulted in a run on hay reserves and some livestock owners have been forced to trim their herds.
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