State Climatologist David Stooksbury issued a statement today warning that "extreme drought conditions have spread into most of northeast Georgia."

Extreme drought occurs about once in 50 years. Metro Atlanta counties are classified as being in severe drought, which happens about once in 20 years.

Those that were classified as extreme today are Hall, Barrow, Clarke, Lumpkin and Habersham counties.

Many rivers in northeast Georgia are flowing at or near record lows, Stooksbury reported, with record lows being set on the Chattooga River near Clayton and the Broad River at Bell.

Drought conditions are also intensifying in south-central and southwest Georgia.

Additional drought information can be found at the state drought page: www.georgiadrought.org.

Current weather conditions from over 80 automated weather stations across Georgia is available at www.georgiaweather.net.

Daily rainfall from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network at www.cocorahs.org.

Water resources information from the U.S. Geological Survey is available at ga.water.usgs.gov.

Water conservation information is available at www.conservewatergeorgia.net.