Drought in Fentress County, TN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Fentress County, TN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 25
- 8
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 1
- 42
- 40
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 19
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 9
- 15
- 2
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (25 wk), 2007 (42 wk), 2008 (40 wk), 2016 (19 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 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 Nov turns dry.
Against the rest of TN
81st most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Jackson County (1.9 in 10) and Montgomery County (1.9 in 10). Driest in TN: Bradley County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Robertson County (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Nov (31% of weeks), then Dec (20%) and Jan (15%). Least in Apr (8%). May to September averages 12%.
- 15 Jan
- 11 Feb
- 10 Mar
- 8 Apr
- 13 May
- 14 Jun
- 14 Jul
- 8 Aug
- 12 Sep
- 13 Oct
- 31 Nov
- 20 Dec
The worst year: 2007
2007: 42 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.3% at D2, 1.7% at D3, 3 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 46 weeks, May 22, 2007 to Apr 1, 2008.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 20 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Fentress County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Fentress County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.