Drought in Calcasieu Parish, LA: 2.7 years in 10 since 2000

2.7 years in 10

Calcasieu Parish, LA: 7 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

1. 35
2. 0
3. 6
4. 5
5. 0
6. 7
7. 15
8. 0
9. 1
10. 5
11. 17
12. 52
13. 11
14. 8
15. 6
16. 6
17. 5
18. 2
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 30
24. 26
25. 15
26. 4

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (35 wk), 2006 (15 wk), 2010 (17 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2022 (30 wk), 2023 (26 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Keep a lawn, but switch to drought-tolerant grass

Dry years come often enough to kill a thirsty lawn every few summers. Keep the lawn, reseed with a drought-tolerant mix, and put the beds on drip.

If you reseed, use a drought-tolerant mix and do it well clear of Nov, the month drought is most common here. Put beds on drip before the next dry year.

Against the rest of LA

27th most drought-prone of 64 LA counties; the LA middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Saint Bernard Parish (2.7 in 10) and East Carroll Parish (2.7 in 10). Driest in LA: Caddo Parish (4.6 in 10). Least drought: East Feliciana Parish (1.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (27% of weeks), then May (25%) and Aug (23%). Least in Jul (14%). May to September averages 20%.

1. 21 Jan
2. 18 Feb
3. 18 Mar
4. 17 Apr
5. 25 May
6. 18 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 23 Aug
9. 21 Sep
10. 23 Oct
11. 27 Nov
12. 18 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 20.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 12.4% at D2, 6.3% at D3, 52 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 73 weeks, Sep 28, 2010 to Feb 14, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 27 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Calcasieu Parish lands on the plan covered in changing to a drought-tolerant grass. Its worst year, 2011, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Calcasieu Parish's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.