Drought in Bedford County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Bedford County, PA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (16 wk), 2002 (15 wk) and 2024 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

17th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Dauphin County (1.2 in 10) and Northumberland County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (14% of weeks), then May (9%) and Mar (8%). Least in Jan (4%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2024

2024: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 23 weeks, Dec 16, 2025 to May 19, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 20 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Bedford County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2024, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Bedford County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.