Drought in Elmore County, AL: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Elmore County, AL: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (45 wk), 2002 (22 wk), 2006 (17 wk), 2007 (40 wk), 2008 (36 wk), 2010 (16 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2012 (52 wk) and 2016 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

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

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 26% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of AL

29th most drought-prone of 67 AL counties; the AL middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Dallas County (3.8 in 10) and Pike County (3.5 in 10). Driest in AL: Chambers County (5.4 in 10). Least drought: Morgan County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (37% of weeks), then Nov (36%) and Dec (30%). Least in Feb (20%). May to September averages 26%.

28 Jan
20 Feb
24 Mar
23 Apr
28 May
21 Jun
27 Jul
24 Aug
28 Sep
37 Oct
36 Nov
30 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 27.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 17.4% at D2, 8.7% at D3, 56 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 126 weeks, Sep 14, 2010 to Feb 5, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2016, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 21 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.