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

1.5 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2023 (17 wk), 2024 (16 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 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.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of VA

99th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Hopewell City (1.9 in 10) and Bedford County (1.5 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 (24% of weeks), then Oct (23%) and Nov (21%). Least in May (12%). May to September averages 14%.

18 Jan
13 Feb
18 Mar
18 Apr
12 May
16 Jun
13 Jul
13 Aug
17 Sep
23 Oct
21 Nov
24 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 17.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.6% at D2, 1.3% at D3, 1 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 60 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Nov 3, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 44 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.