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 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.

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