Drought in Fulton County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Fulton County, PA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (19 wk), 2002 (22 wk) and 2010 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 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

12th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Franklin County (1.2 in 10) and Carbon County (1.2 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 (13% of weeks), then Apr (12%) and Sep (10%). Least in Feb (7%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 12 Apr
5. 10 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 10 Sep
10. 9 Oct
11. 8 Nov
12. 9 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, Dec 9, 2025 to Aug 4, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2010, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 31 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Fulton County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Fulton County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.