Drought in Concho County, TX: 5.8 years in 10 since 2000

5.8 years in 10

Concho County, TX: 15 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (42 wk), 2006 (49 wk), 2007 (13 wk), 2008 (29 wk), 2009 (16 wk), 2011 (51 wk), 2012 (21 wk), 2013 (36 wk), 2014 (25 wk), 2018 (25 wk), 2019 (19 wk), 2020 (19 wk), 2022 (46 wk), 2023 (24 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2005, 2016 and 2017.

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 Aug peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of TX

131st most drought-prone of 254 TX counties; the TX middle is 5.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Hopkins County (5.8 in 10) and Robertson County (5.8 in 10). Driest in TX: Uvalde County (7.7 in 10). Least drought: Jasper County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (46% of weeks), then Apr (40%) and Sep (39%). Least in Nov (26%). May to September averages 35%.

34 Jan
33 Feb
39 Mar
40 Apr
33 May
27 Jun
32 Jul
46 Aug
39 Sep
33 Oct
26 Nov
28 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 51 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 34.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 19% at D2, 8.3% at D3, 35 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 56 weeks, Jan 25, 2011 to Feb 14, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 6 in 10, against 5.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 9 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.