Drought in Gadsden County, FL: 3.8 years in 10 since 2000

3.8 years in 10

Gadsden County, FL: 10 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 52
2. 17
3. 13
4. 0
5. 2
6. 0
7. 9
8. 27
9. 1
10. 0
11. 11
12. 52
13. 32
14. 8
15. 15
16. 10
17. 7
18. 11
19. 8
20. 15
21. 3
22. 0
23. 14
24. 8
25. 10
26. 19

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (52 wk), 2001 (17 wk), 2002 (13 wk), 2007 (27 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2012 (32 wk), 2014 (15 wk), 2019 (15 wk), 2022 (14 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2021.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Nov peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of FL

3rd most drought-prone of 67 FL counties; the FL middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Holmes County (4.2 in 10) and Jackson County (3.8 in 10). Driest in FL: Leon County (4.2 in 10). Least drought: Monroe County (1.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (38% of weeks), then Dec (36%) and May (34%). Least in Apr (16%). May to September averages 23%.

1. 31 Jan
2. 26 Feb
3. 20 Mar
4. 16 Apr
5. 34 May
6. 23 Jun
7. 18 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 24 Sep
10. 32 Oct
11. 38 Nov
12. 36 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 26.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.5% at D2, 7.7% at D3, 30 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 88 weeks, Oct 19, 2010 to Jun 19, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 24 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Gadsden County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Gadsden County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.