Drought in Erie County, PA: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Erie County, PA: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 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 Jul turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

50th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Crawford County (0.4 in 10) and Mercer County (0.4 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 Jul (10% of weeks), then Oct (7%) and Aug (5%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 5%.

1. 0 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 1 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 10 Jul
8. 5 Aug
9. 3 Sep
10. 7 Oct
11. 5 Nov
12. 2 Dec

The worst year: 2001

2001: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 3.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.5% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 14 weeks, Aug 14, 2001 to Nov 13, 2001.

Lately

Last drought year: 2001, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 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, 2001, 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.