Drought in Alleghany County, VA: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Alleghany County, VA: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 2
2. 10
3. 31
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 2
8. 3
9. 12
10. 13
11. 1
12. 6
13. 0
14. 5
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 4
21. 0
22. 3
23. 0
24. 15
25. 12
26. 15

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (31 wk), 2009 (13 wk), 2023 (15 wk) and 2025 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of VA

121st most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: James City County (1.5 in 10) and Suffolk City (1.2 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (17% of weeks), then Oct (16%) and Nov (15%). Least in May (5%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 9 Mar
4. 9 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 7 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.5% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 26 weeks, Nov 6, 2001 to Apr 30, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Alleghany County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Alleghany County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.