Drought in Berkshire County, MA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (19 wk), 2016 (17 wk) and 2017 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of MA

14th most drought-prone of 14 MA counties; the MA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Dukes County (1.2 in 10). Driest in MA: Worcester County (3.1 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (13% of weeks), then Nov (12%) and Dec (11%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 9%.

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

The worst year: 2002

2002: 19 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.8% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Sep 6, 2016 to Mar 28, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2017, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 5 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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