Drought in Delaware County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 11
3. 46
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 1
8. 3
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 6
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 7
18. 10
19. 0
20. 2
21. 0
22. 0
23. 5
24. 2
25. 15
26. 16

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2024 (15 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

8th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Berks County (1.2 in 10) and Northampton County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (16% of weeks), then Mar (15%) and Feb (14%). Least in Aug (3%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 14 Feb
3. 15 Mar
4. 14 Apr
5. 11 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 7 Jul
8. 3 Aug
9. 5 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 11 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.6% at D2, 1.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 55 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 24 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Delaware County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Delaware County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.