The Obama administration today designated nearly 600 counties as natural disaster areas due to high temperatures and lack of rainfall.

The designations by the Department of Agriculture, the first of 2013 for drought-related conditions, span much of the country's wheat-producing region in Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas. A large part of Georgia was also declared a natural disaster area, as were counties in states as far west as Nevada.

In all, the 597 counties are located in 14 states and represent areas that have been under "severe drought" on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks. With the announcement today, farmers in the designated counties have become eligible for low-interest emergency loans.

The designations today came on the heels of an announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that last year was the hottest on record in the lower 48 states (ClimateWire, Jan. 9).

Last year, USDA designated 2,245 counties in 39 states -- a full 71 percent of the country -- as natural disaster areas due to drought conditions.