SPOKANE, Wash. — Far northern Idaho has been reporting drought conditions since May 28, and now that's worsen into a "severe drought" according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
All of Boundary County and the top half of Bonner County fall under this "severe drought" category which accounts for about 2.5% of the state. The remainder of Bonner County along with parts of Kootenai and Shoshone Counties are reporting "moderate drought" conditions.
At this point in the summer of 2018, a similar swath of Bonner, Kootenai, and Shoshone Counties were also under a moderate drought, but there was so severe drought at the time.
Since May 1, Bonners Ferry, ID has seen 2.66" of rain which is 67% of normal through that time frame. Coupled with a lower-than-average snow pack heading into spring, drought conditions have worsened month-by-month in far northern Idaho.
This means that the Northern Panhandle will be at a higher wildfire risk than the rest of the state, where there are no drought or abnormally dry issues.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is updated weekly on Thursdays. It has five categories, one preceding drought conditions known as "Abnormally Dry", and 4 levels of drought which are from least to most significant: Moderate, Severe, Extreme, and Exceptional.
The last time north Idaho reported severe drought conditions was on October 9, 2018.
Weather Wise is written by KREM 2 Meteorologist Thomas Patrick, and is meant to explain and dive deeper into weather and science related topics. If you'd like to have a weather question answered, contact him through email at tpatrick@krem.com with the subject line "Weather Wise" or send him a message on any social media platform.
