Drought in Houston County, AL: 4.2 years in 10 since 2000

4.2 years in 10

Houston County, AL: 11 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 50
2. 6
3. 18
4. 0
5. 2
6. 0
7. 19
8. 32
9. 12
10. 0
11. 21
12. 52
13. 37
14. 8
15. 7
16. 4
17. 10
18. 10
19. 6
20. 23
21. 0
22. 0
23. 15
24. 19
25. 11
26. 19

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (50 wk), 2002 (18 wk), 2006 (19 wk), 2007 (32 wk), 2010 (21 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2012 (37 wk), 2019 (23 wk), 2022 (15 wk), 2023 (19 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2020 and 2021.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Nov peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of AL

16th most drought-prone of 67 AL counties; the AL middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Bullock County (4.2 in 10) and Crenshaw County (4.2 in 10). Driest in AL: Chambers County (5.4 in 10). Least drought: Morgan County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (38% of weeks), then Dec (37%) and Oct (35%). Least in Apr (21%). May to September averages 28%.

1. 29 Jan
2. 22 Feb
3. 23 Mar
4. 21 Apr
5. 25 May
6. 28 Jun
7. 31 Jul
8. 26 Aug
9. 31 Sep
10. 35 Oct
11. 38 Nov
12. 37 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 28.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 16.9% at D2, 7.9% at D3, 46 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 105 weeks, Aug 10, 2010 to Aug 7, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 4 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 22 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Houston County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2011, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Houston County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.