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

1.2 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (44 wk), 2024 (14 wk) and 2025 (25 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 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 Apr turns dry.

Against the rest of NJ

14th most drought-prone of 21 NJ counties; the NJ middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Cape May County (1.2 in 10) and Hunterdon County (1.2 in 10). Driest in NJ: Passaic County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Monmouth County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Apr (16% of weeks), then May (13%) and Oct (13%). Least in Nov (8%). May to September averages 11%.

11 Jan
11 Feb
12 Mar
16 Apr
13 May
10 Jun
12 Jul
10 Aug
11 Sep
13 Oct
8 Nov
12 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 44 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.6% at D2, 2.2% at D3, 1 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 53 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Oct 29, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 25 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 29 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.