The National Weather Service has issued a fire watch across the state due to ongoing drought conditions.

The warning comes hand-in-hand with a freeze watch that has been issued for roughly half of the state.

Thursday morning’s update from the U.S. Drought Monitor painted a bleak picture of the ongoing drought conditions across Maine, which has seen very little rainfall over the past few months.

According to the latest report, just over 5.5% of the state is experiencing extreme drought. The extreme drought observation stretches west from the Skowhegan region through southern Franklin County and across parts of Androscoggin, Kennebec and Oxford counties.

Much of the state south from Dover-Foxcroft and East Millinocket remains in a severe drought, while moderate and dry conditions r

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