Drought in Harford County, MD: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2017 (13 wk), 2023 (13 wk) and 2025 (27 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 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 Apr turns dry.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of MD

19th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Caroline County (1.5 in 10) and Queen Anne's County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MD: Wicomico County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Garrett County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Apr (20% of weeks), then Jan (16%) and Jun (15%). Least in Aug (4%). May to September averages 10%.

16 Jan
14 Feb
14 Mar
20 Apr
14 May
15 Jun
11 Jul
4 Aug
7 Sep
14 Oct
13 Nov
13 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.8% at D2, 1.6% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 55 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 27 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 25 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.