The new USDA Drought Monitor map is out today, and it shows that Maryland's drought continues to worsen. Half the state - 50.5 percent - is now considered to be in "severe" drought, as measured by rainfall, streamflow and damage to vegetation. That's up from just 17 percent last week, and zero percent on the July 10 map.

Here's the new map, which reflects data as of July 31.  It shows that the worst-hit parts of the state - once confined to Southern Maryland and portions of Washington, Allegany and Montgomery counties - now also include much of the Eastern Shore, from the Bay Bridge south, almost to the ocean and the Virginia line.

Over all, about 75 percent of Maryland is in either moderate or severe drought. That's unchanged from last week, but more of what had been just "moderate" drought has slipped into the "severe" category.

Those portions of the state have had little or no significant rainfall since mid-April.

The remaining 25 percent of the state, including far Western Maryland and the northeastern corner of the state, remains only "abnormally dry."         

Here's how our state fits in with the deepening drought across much of the rest of the Eastern United States, with the partial exception of New England.

The prospects for relief, meanwhile, appear dim. There's only a "slight" chance for thundershowers in the next few days, then more heat and blue skies. These summer droughts are often broken by the passage of tropical storms or their remnants. The only hope glimmering on that front is now in the eastern Caribbean, where hurricane forecasters have begun watching a new storm system. Here's the satellite view.  And here's a portion of the forecasters' discussion:

"A TROPICAL WAVE AND AN AREA OF LOW PRES IN THE E CARIB IS MOVING
WWD NEAR 20 KT. A SATELLITE LOOP BEGINNING AT 00Z TODAY SHOWS
CONVECTION SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING IN BOTH COVERAGE AND
MAGNITUDE...ALTHOUGH CLOUD TOPS HAVE WARMED A BIT OVER THE PAST
HOUR OR TWO. CURRENTLY...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS MODERATE
CONVECTION IS FROM 13N-17N BETWEEN 64W-70W. WHILE CONVECTION IS
IMPRESSIVE IT REMAINS CHALLENGING TO FIND THE LOW-LEVEL CENTER.
THIS SYSTEM CONTINUES TO HAVE SOME POTENTIAL TO BECOME A
TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE
HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS CURRENTLY ENROUTE TO INVESTIGATE
THE SYSTEM."

If it becomes the season's fourth tropical storm, it will be named Dean.