Drought in Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 9
3. 28
4. 0
5. 0
6. 4
7. 0
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 1
12. 0
13. 8
14. 13
15. 0
16. 31
17. 26
18. 17
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 9
24. 1
25. 9
26. 9

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (28 wk), 2013 (13 wk), 2015 (31 wk), 2016 (26 wk) and 2017 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of CT

7th most drought-prone of 9 CT counties; the CT middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: South Central Connecticut Planning Region (1.9 in 10) and Naugatuck Valley Planning Region (1.9 in 10). Driest in CT: Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Western Connecticut Planning Region (1.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (19% of weeks), then Nov (19%) and Jan (14%). Least in Jul (8%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 14 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 13 Sep
10. 12 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 19 Dec

The worst year: 2015

2015: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.7% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 39 weeks, Jul 26, 2016 to Apr 18, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2017, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 8 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Greater Bridgeport Planning Region lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2015, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Greater Bridgeport Planning Region's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.