Drought in Clay County, NC: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

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

1. 50
2. 38
3. 28
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 12
8. 42
9. 53
10. 14
11. 6
12. 1
13. 5
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 35
18. 18
19. 0
20. 6
21. 0
22. 0
23. 8
24. 11
25. 13
26. 9

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (50 wk), 2001 (38 wk), 2002 (28 wk), 2007 (42 wk), 2008 (53 wk), 2009 (14 wk), 2016 (35 wk), 2017 (18 wk) and 2024 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

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 Jul 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 27% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of NC

18th most drought-prone of 100 NC counties; the NC middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Jackson County (3.5 in 10) and Iredell County (3.5 in 10). Driest in NC: Cleveland County (5 in 10). Least drought: Gates County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jul (32% of weeks), then Mar (30%) and Dec (30%). Least in Sep (23%). May to September averages 27%.

1. 29 Jan
2. 24 Feb
3. 30 Mar
4. 25 Apr
5. 25 May
6. 24 Jun
7. 32 Jul
8. 29 Aug
9. 23 Sep
10. 28 Oct
11. 30 Nov
12. 30 Dec

The worst year: 2008

2008: 53 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 27.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 16.6% at D2, 8% at D3, 42 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 109 weeks, Mar 13, 2007 to Apr 7, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 36 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Clay County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2008, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Clay County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.