Drought in Harrisonburg City, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Harrisonburg City, VA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 7
3. 32
4. 0
5. 0
6. 1
7. 1
8. 10
9. 0
10. 8
11. 13
12. 11
13. 5
14. 3
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 8
19. 6
20. 0
21. 0
22. 6
23. 3
24. 20
25. 22
26. 21

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (32 wk), 2010 (13 wk), 2023 (20 wk), 2024 (22 wk) and 2025 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020.

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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of VA

80th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Emporia City (1.9 in 10) and King George County (1.9 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (22% of weeks), then Aug (20%) and Mar (18%). Least in May (10%). May to September averages 15%.

1. 18 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 18 Mar
4. 14 Apr
5. 10 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 20 Aug
9. 22 Sep
10. 17 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 15.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.8% at D2, 1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 56 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Oct 6, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 40 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Harrisonburg City 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 Harrisonburg City's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.