Only the Dakotas and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan were wetter than normal.
The U.S. weather agency NOAA warned that the first two months of 2009 have brought the driest start of any year nationwide since keeping records began in 1895.
While recent rains in California have eased that state's severe drought, the lack of precipitation elsewhere is troubling many farmers and firefighters.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has logged 11,814 wildfires so far this year -- the most for any two-month period in a decade and nearly 3,700 more than average.
Texas has suffered some of the worst effects in what is being called "exceptional" drought conditions across parts of the state.
Ranchers have been forced to sell their cattle because fields are too parched to feed them.
Roughly 3,400 wildfires have burned in Texas since the beginning of the year, consuming almost 105,000 acres and nearly 70 homes.