Drought in Adams County, PA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Adams County, PA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 12
3. 36
4. 0
5. 0
6. 2
7. 1
8. 3
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 2
13. 0
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 7
18. 13
19. 0
20. 2
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 17
25. 13
26. 21

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (36 wk), 2017 (13 wk), 2023 (17 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Jan turns dry.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (4 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of PA

1st most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Philadelphia County (1.5 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jan (15% of weeks), then Feb (15%) and Mar (14%). Least in May (8%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 14 Mar
4. 14 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 12 Jul
8. 11 Aug
9. 8 Sep
10. 10 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 14 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 36 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3% at D2, 0.7% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 34 weeks, Dec 16, 2025 to Aug 4, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 4 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 31 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Adams County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran drier than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Adams County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.