Drought in Erie County, NY: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Erie County, NY: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 20
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 15
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 16
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 24
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 6
- 2
- 6
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (20 wk), 2007 (15 wk), 2012 (16 wk) and 2016 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
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 NY
16th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Monroe County (1.5 in 10) and Seneca County (1.5 in 10). Driest in NY: Rockland County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Otsego County (0 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (18% of weeks), then Aug (17%) and Sep (15%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 10%.
- 0 Jan
- 0 Feb
- 1 Mar
- 3 Apr
- 1 May
- 3 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 17 Aug
- 15 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 10 Nov
- 4 Dec
The worst year: 2016
2016: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Jul 5, 2016 to Dec 13, 2016.
Lately
Last drought year: 2016, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Erie County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2016, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Erie County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.