COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho —

Nearly 80% of the Northwest is in a drought this summer, including North Idaho.

“We’re not only in a drought, we’re in an extreme to exceptional drought,” said Peter Youngblood, a Coeur d’Alene-based hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Extreme" and "exceptional" are the two highest categories of drought classification. About 13% of the entire Northwest currently falls in these categories, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Extreme drought is most prevalent in North Idaho, Western Washington and Western Montana, the Idaho Capital Sun originally reported.

This particular drought has been developing over the last few years, Youngblood said and can be attributed primarily to below-normal snowpack, lower rainfall total

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