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

1.2 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 9
3. 35
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 0
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 6
14. 0
15. 0
16. 2
17. 6
18. 11
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 6
25. 13
26. 28

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (35 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (28 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

7th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: York County (1.2 in 10) and Delaware 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 Dec (16% of weeks), then Apr (16%) and Jan (15%). Least in Jul (6%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 13 Mar
4. 16 Apr
5. 15 May
6. 9 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 7 Aug
9. 6 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 9 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 35 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.9% at D2, 0.5% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 42 weeks, Nov 18, 2025 to Sep 1, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 28 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 35 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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