Several homes were evacuated as a wildfire spread through the Colliers Mills Wildfire Management Area in Ocean County, New Jersey. Lokman Vural Elibol/ | Anadolu | Getty ImagesDry and unseasonably warm conditions in the Northeast have plunged much of the region into drought, fueling wildfires in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. "To have such persistent periods of really intense drought conditions is not very common." The Drought Monitor's latest map, released Thursday, showed drought conditions expanding from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York up into Massachusetts and Maine. Dry conditions have intensified in some states, with parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland now in "extreme" drought.

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Persons: Lokman Vural, Benjamin Cook, Lamont, Brian Fuchs, " Fuchs, Fuchs, rainier Organizations: Colliers, Management, Anadolu, Getty, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Regional Climate Center, D.C, U.S . Drought Monitor, University of Nebraska, U.S, Drought Monitor Locations: Ocean County , New Jersey, New Jersey , Connecticut, Massachusetts, U.S, Philadelphia, Newark , New Jersey, Wilmington , Delaware, Norfolk , Virginia, Washington, Palisades , New York, Virginia , Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, New Jersey , Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Lincoln, New York , New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Great Lakes, Northeast