Drought in Carbon County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Carbon County, PA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 2
3. 19
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 0
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 6
14. 7
15. 0
16. 2
17. 9
18. 13
19. 6
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 5
25. 10
26. 32

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (19 wk), 2017 (13 wk) and 2025 (32 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

13th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Fulton County (1.2 in 10) and Schuylkill County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (18% of weeks), then Jan (15%) and Feb (15%). Least in Jul (1%). May to September averages 4%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 9 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 1 Jul
8. 2 Aug
9. 5 Sep
10. 6 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 18 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 29 weeks, Oct 29, 2024 to May 13, 2025.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 32 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 11 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Carbon County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Carbon County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.