COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai and Benewah counties, and half of Bonner County, are in "severe drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's newest report.

Two conditions primarily are contributing to the drought: The Panhandle region's 2015 snowpack was half of normal levels and melt-off was a month sooner than usual. Additionally, the Panhandle received less than half of the normal level of rain in May.

Parts of southern Idaho are experiencing even worse, or "exceptional drought," conditions.

Lots of warm weather has also contributed.

"While most of the west has experienced an unusually cool, wet May, warmth has prevailed from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Rockies," the Drought Monitor's summary for this week said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor maps drought conditions weekly. The report is produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska.

Ron Abramovich, a water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Boise, said authors of the drought intensity report use precipitation, streamflow and reservoir storage data to determine the drought intensities for the different parts of the state.

"About 75 percent of our annual precipitation falls as snow, and we didn't get much this winter," he said. "Rain is good, but snow is better."

There hasn't been much rain either.

Through May 28, the Idaho Panhandle and the Spokane River Basin received only 40 percent of the precipitation historically seen in the month of May.

"That's another poor indicator," Abramovich said.

The forecast is for hot and dry weather to close out the month.

Sandy Von Behren, manager of the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management, said her office is preparing for a fire season that might be worse because of the dry conditions.

"We're keeping an eye on things," Von Behren said. "At this time there are no reports of any impacts."