Drought in Chicot County, AR: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Chicot County, AR: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (31 wk), 2005 (16 wk), 2006 (16 wk), 2007 (13 wk), 2010 (32 wk), 2011 (39 wk), 2013 (14 wk), 2022 (28 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2020.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Sep peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 26% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of AR

22nd most drought-prone of 75 AR counties; the AR middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Monroe County (3.5 in 10) and Grant County (3.5 in 10). Driest in AR: Lee County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Clay County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (40% of weeks), then Aug (36%) and Oct (29%). Least in May (10%). May to September averages 26%.

24 Jan
15 Feb
16 Mar
11 Apr
10 May
17 Jun
24 Jul
36 Aug
40 Sep
29 Oct
24 Nov
23 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 39 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 22.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.6% at D2, 5.1% at D3, 25 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 70 weeks, Jun 1, 2010 to Sep 27, 2011.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 39 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.