Drought conditions only continue to worsen in the Nebraska Panhandle. 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor released every Thursday by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a large part of the Panhandle moved up a level from severe to extreme drought conditions. 

Parts of Cheyenne, Morrill, Garden, Banner, Scotts Bluff, Box Butte, Dawes and Sioux counties were moved into the extreme category. Last week, none of the Panhandle was in an extreme drought. 

Across the state, about 88 percent of Nebraska is in some sort of drought, up about 10 percent from a week ago. 

The amount of land in the Cornhusker state under extreme drought conditions rose from .5 percent to over six percent this week. 

According to the drought monitor, almost 1.3 million Nebraskans are living in some sort of drought condition right now.