Drought in Caroline County, MD: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (45 wk), 2007 (20 wk), 2012 (30 wk) and 2025 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of MD

18th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Talbot County (1.5 in 10) and Harford County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MD: Wicomico County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Garrett County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (21% of weeks), then Sep (18%) and Jul (16%). Least in Dec (9%). May to September averages 15%.

11 Jan
12 Feb
9 Mar
13 Apr
13 May
14 Jun
16 Jul
14 Aug
18 Sep
21 Oct
13 Nov
9 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 45 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.5% at D2, 1.4% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 54 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 5, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 28 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.