Drought in Greenbrier County, WV: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (23 wk) and 2024 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of WV

20th most drought-prone of 55 WV counties; the WV middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Tucker County (1.2 in 10) and Mingo County (0.8 in 10). Driest in WV: Mercer County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Hancock County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (18% of weeks), then Nov (15%) and Sep (11%). Least in Jul (3%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 4 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 3 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 11 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 23 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.4% at D2, 0.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Nov 13, 2001 to Apr 23, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 11 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Greenbrier 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 Greenbrier County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.