Drought in Arecibo Municipio, PR: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Arecibo Municipio, PR: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2021 (14 wk) and 2022 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2025.

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 (2 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0 in 10).

Against the rest of PR

33rd most drought-prone of 78 PR counties; the PR middle is 0.4 in 10. Closest on the list: Corozal Municipio (0.8 in 10) and Gurabo Municipio (0.4 in 10). Driest in PR: Salinas Municipio (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Mayaguez Municipio (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jan (9% of weeks), then Feb (9%) and Aug (9%). Least in Oct (0%). May to September averages 4%.

9 Jan
9 Feb
5 Mar
1 Apr
0 May
4 Jun
5 Jul
9 Aug
3 Sep
0 Oct
1 Nov
4 Dec

The worst year: 2022

2022: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 4.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 13 weeks, Jun 7, 2022 to Aug 30, 2022.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.