Drought in Appomattox County, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Appomattox County, VA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 11
- 46
- 0
- 0
- 3
- 15
- 15
- 23
- 0
- 1
- 12
- 7
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 6
- 5
- 0
- 6
- 0
- 10
- 11
- 19
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2006 (15 wk), 2007 (15 wk), 2008 (23 wk) and 2025 (19 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.
Against the rest of VA
70th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Grayson County (1.9 in 10) and Buckingham County (1.9 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 (27% of weeks), then Apr (22%) and Mar (20%). Least in Aug (11%). May to September averages 14%.
- 20 Jan
- 16 Feb
- 20 Mar
- 22 Apr
- 14 May
- 13 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 11 Aug
- 17 Sep
- 20 Oct
- 19 Nov
- 27 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 17.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.7% at D2, 2.1% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 61 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Nov 3, 2026.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 44 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Appomattox 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 Appomattox County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.