Drought in Blair County, PA: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Blair County, PA: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (13 wk) and 2002 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

33rd most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Huntingdon County (0.8 in 10) and Elk County (0.8 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 Oct (11% of weeks), then Sep (10%) and Aug (8%). Least in Dec (0%). May to September averages 5%.

2 Jan
7 Feb
5 Mar
2 Apr
2 May
0 Jun
6 Jul
8 Aug
10 Sep
11 Oct
3 Nov
0 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 15 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 4.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 11 weeks, Jan 29, 2002 to Apr 9, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 7 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.