Drought in Dukes County, MA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (23 wk), 2020 (19 wk) and 2022 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of MA

13th most drought-prone of 14 MA counties; the MA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Plymouth County (1.5 in 10) and Berkshire County (1.2 in 10). Driest in MA: Worcester County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Berkshire County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (19% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Dec (10%). Least in Mar (3%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 9 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 9 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 19 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 10 Oct
11. 9 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 23 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.7% at D2, 0.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 22 weeks, Apr 28, 2026 to Sep 22, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 22 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Dukes 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 Dukes County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.