Drought in Cumberland County, KY: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Cumberland County, KY: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 18
2. 6
3. 2
4. 0
5. 0
6. 8
7. 4
8. 32
9. 20
10. 1
11. 0
12. 2
13. 4
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 9
18. 0
19. 0
20. 4
21. 0
22. 0
23. 8
24. 8
25. 7
26. 1

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (18 wk), 2007 (32 wk) and 2008 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of KY

59th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Allen County (1.2 in 10) and Hardin County (1.2 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (27% of weeks), then Dec (17%) and Oct (16%). Least in Mar (3%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 11 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 9 May
6. 9 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 27 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.3% at D2, 1.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, May 22, 2007 to Dec 11, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2008, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Cumberland County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Cumberland County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.