Drought in Charles County, MD: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Charles County, MD: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 7
- 46
- 0
- 0
- 3
- 5
- 21
- 9
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 17
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 6
- 6
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 16
- 12
- 18
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2007 (21 wk), 2012 (17 wk), 2023 (16 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 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 Jan turns dry.
Against the rest of MD
15th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Howard County (1.9 in 10) and Baltimore 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 Jan (19% of weeks), then Jul (19%) and Apr (19%). Least in Nov (8%). May to September averages 14%.
- 19 Jan
- 13 Feb
- 16 Mar
- 19 Apr
- 12 May
- 13 Jun
- 19 Jul
- 14 Aug
- 12 Sep
- 16 Oct
- 8 Nov
- 17 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.2% at D2, 0.6% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 52 weeks, Nov 20, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 31 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Charles County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Charles County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.