Drought in Bennington County, VT: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Bennington County, VT: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of VT

12th most drought-prone of 14 VT counties; the VT middle is 1.5499999999999998 in 10. Closest on the list: Franklin County (0.8 in 10) and Grand Isle County (0.4 in 10). Driest in VT: Windsor County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Chittenden County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (13% of weeks), then Sep (11%) and Dec (10%). Least in Apr (0%). May to September averages 6%.

1. 4 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 0 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 4 Aug
9. 11 Sep
10. 6 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 14 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Nov 6, 2001 to Mar 26, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Bennington 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 Bennington County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.