Drought in Burlington County, NJ: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Burlington County, NJ: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (45 wk), 2016 (13 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 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.

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

Against the rest of NJ

10th most drought-prone of 21 NJ counties; the NJ middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Warren County (1.5 in 10) and Morris County (1.2 in 10). Driest in NJ: Passaic County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Monmouth County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (13% of weeks), then Oct (13%) and Nov (13%). Least in Aug (4%). May to September averages 9%.

10 Jan
9 Feb
8 Mar
10 Apr
10 May
8 Jun
8 Jul
4 Aug
13 Sep
13 Oct
13 Nov
11 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 45 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.1% at D2, 2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 54 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 5, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 21 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.