Drought in Bracken County, KY: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

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 KY

118th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Owen County (0.4 in 10) and Pendleton County (0.4 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (16% of weeks), then Nov (16%) and Oct (13%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 3 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 7 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 16 Nov
12. 7 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.5% at D2, 0.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 22 weeks, May 29, 2007 to Oct 23, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2007, 22 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

Bracken County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Bracken County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.