Drought in Caldwell County, KY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Caldwell County, KY: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 2
- 15
- 6
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 17
- 5
- 0
- 22
- 8
- 30
- 0
- 1
- 6
- 7
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 0
- 6
- 4
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (15 wk), 2007 (17 wk), 2010 (22 wk), 2012 (30 wk) and 2022 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018, 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.
Against the rest of KY
17th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Woodford County (1.9 in 10) and Livingston County (1.9 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 (22% of weeks), then Oct (17%) and Aug (14%). Least in Mar (1%). May to September averages 14%.
- 8 Jan
- 6 Feb
- 1 Mar
- 7 Apr
- 12 May
- 11 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 14 Aug
- 22 Sep
- 17 Oct
- 14 Nov
- 7 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 30 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.5% at D2, 1.7% at D3, 5 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Aug 3, 2010 to Feb 22, 2011.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 10 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Caldwell County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Caldwell County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.