Drought in Buena Vista City, VA: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Buena Vista City, VA: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (40 wk), 2023 (19 wk), 2024 (19 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020 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 Sep turns dry.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of VA

103rd most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Staunton City (1.5 in 10) and Augusta County (1.5 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 Sep (20% of weeks), then Oct (19%) and Jan (18%). Least in May (8%). May to September averages 14%.

18 Jan
15 Feb
15 Mar
12 Apr
8 May
15 Jun
12 Jul
16 Aug
20 Sep
19 Oct
14 Nov
16 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 40 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.3% at D2, 1.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 56 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Oct 6, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 40 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.