Drought in Highland County, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Highland County, VA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 7
- 24
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 13
- 8
- 5
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 6
- 8
- 21
- 22
- 20
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (24 wk), 2009 (13 wk), 2023 (21 wk), 2024 (22 wk) and 2025 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 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 Jan turns dry.
Against the rest of VA
92nd most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Rockingham County (1.9 in 10) and King and Queen 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 Jan (18% of weeks), then Dec (17%) and Feb (15%). Least in Jul (8%). May to September averages 10%.
- 18 Jan
- 15 Feb
- 13 Mar
- 13 Apr
- 9 May
- 9 Jun
- 8 Jul
- 10 Aug
- 15 Sep
- 13 Oct
- 13 Nov
- 17 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 48 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Aug 11, 2026.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 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
Highland 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 Highland County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.