Drought in Greene County, NY: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 7
3. 11
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. 8
17. 25
18. 11
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 4
24. 0
25. 9
26. 0

20002025

Drought years: 2016 (25 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2025.

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 NY

39th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Rensselaer County (0.4 in 10) and Oswego County (0.4 in 10). Driest in NY: Rockland County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Otsego County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (11% of weeks), then Nov (10%) and Aug (8%). Least in Apr (2%). May to September averages 4%.

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

The worst year: 2016

2016: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 36 weeks, Jul 12, 2016 to Mar 14, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2016, 25 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

Greene County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2016, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Greene County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.