Drought in Forest County, PA: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Forest County, PA: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (13 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024.

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 PA

35th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Elk County (0.8 in 10) and Centre County (0.8 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 Oct (10% of weeks), then Aug (8%) and Sep (8%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 6%.

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

The worst year: 2025

2025: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 4.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.3% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 18 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Jan 6, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 1 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Forest County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Forest County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.