Drought in Hampshire County, WV: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Hampshire County, WV: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 8
3. 21
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 1
8. 1
9. 0
10. 6
11. 19
12. 5
13. 0
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 8
25. 28
26. 33

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (21 wk), 2010 (19 wk), 2024 (28 wk) and 2025 (33 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of WV

9th most drought-prone of 55 WV counties; the WV middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Morgan County (1.5 in 10) and Monroe County (1.5 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 Dec (16% of weeks), then Nov (15%) and Oct (15%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 11 Jan
2. 9 Feb
3. 12 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 8 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 14 Aug
9. 15 Sep
10. 15 Oct
11. 15 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 33 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.4% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 49 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Aug 11, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 33 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 32 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Hampshire County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Hampshire County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.