NOAA uses two satellites to gather data for the report, said agency spokeswoman Patricia Vietz. The pair -- called NOAA 14 and NOAA 15 -- circle Earth in a north-south orbit and are primarily used for long-term predictions. The satellites are particularly useful for drought forecasters because they are able to give scientists a snapshot image of current drought conditions nationwide, said NOAA senior meteorologist Douglas LeComte.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service combine data from the satellites with information from ground-based sources like Doppler radar and with historic weather patterns to produce the three-month drought reports.

"We don't make claims that we're ever going to have a 100-percent accurate forecast," LeComte said. "But we think we're pretty accurate."

Tommy Irvin, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, said that the most recent drought report was not heartening. "It looks bad," he said, calling the drought "the worst we've ever had in this particular season in the state of Georgia."

Farmers in southwest Georgia -- the part of the state hardest hit by the drought -- were quickly running out of available water supplies, Irvin said, adding that the state was hoping to receive federal disaster-relief funds.

John Saunders, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, said that ranchers were feeling most of the drought's effect in his state, citing a dramatically reduced hay harvest and less water for livestock as problems.