Brutally dry winter.

This winter is so brutally dry, that I have to keep a pan of water lightly boiling on the stove whenever I'm home, to keep the air in my cottage manageably humidified.

Even then, for like a week or two straight, I've been waking up at night with my sinuses and throat just dried out and parched, to the point where it's so uncomfortable that I can't go back to sleep, which in turn has made me start keeping a water-bottle on the floor by my bedside, so if I wake up like that, I can immediately drink some water and try to get back to sleep right away, before I wake up too much and can't fall asleep again.

I've never honestly had to do that before, even in the present cottage where I live, during equivalently cold winters.

I wonder what gives.