Drought in Grand Isle County, VT: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2018 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of VT

13th most drought-prone of 14 VT counties; the VT middle is 1.5499999999999998 in 10. Closest on the list: Bennington County (0.4 in 10) and Chittenden County (0.4 in 10). Driest in VT: Windsor County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Chittenden County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (11% of weeks), then Aug (10%) and Oct (10%). Least in Jun (0%). May to September averages 5%.

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

The worst year: 2018

2018: 14 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 4.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 19 weeks, Oct 18, 2016 to Feb 21, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2018, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Grand Isle County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2018, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Grand Isle County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.