Another swath of California has entered into exceptional drought , the most severe category of dryness recognized by U.S. drought authorities, escalating the threat of another devastating wildfire season, water shortages and other increasingly familiar troubles in the Golden State.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, released data Thursday showing eight new counties within and north of the San Francisco Bay Area partially in exceptional drought one level worse than the extreme drought they were in last week.