Drought in Buckingham County, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Buckingham County, VA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2007 (14 wk), 2008 (21 wk), 2012 (26 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.

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 VA

71st most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Appomattox County (1.9 in 10) and Campbell County (1.9 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (23% of weeks), then Apr (22%) and Oct (21%). Least in Jun (12%). May to September averages 15%.

19 Jan
16 Feb
19 Mar
22 Apr
13 May
12 Jun
17 Jul
16 Aug
16 Sep
21 Oct
20 Nov
23 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 17.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.4% at D2, 2.3% at D3, 4 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 55 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 36 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.