DroughtOdds

Drought in Iredell County, NC: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Iredell County, NC: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

  1. 23
  2. 40
  3. 49
  4. 0
  5. 0
  6. 1
  7. 22
  8. 33
  9. 50
  10. 6
  11. 11
  12. 7
  13. 14
  14. 3
  15. 0
  16. 15
  17. 8
  18. 8
  19. 6
  20. 6
  21. 0
  22. 7
  23. 5
  24. 10
  25. 6
  26. 16

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (23 wk), 2001 (40 wk), 2002 (49 wk), 2006 (22 wk), 2007 (33 wk), 2008 (50 wk), 2012 (14 wk), 2015 (15 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2014 and 2020.

Keep a lawn, but switch to drought-tolerant grass

Dry years come often enough to kill a thirsty lawn every few summers. Keep the lawn, reseed with a drought-tolerant mix, and put the beds on drip.

If you reseed, use a drought-tolerant mix and do it well clear of Dec, the month drought is most common here. Put beds on drip before the next dry year.

Against the rest of NC

19th most drought-prone of 100 NC counties; the NC middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Clay County (3.5 in 10) and Transylvania County (3.5 in 10). Driest in NC: Cleveland County (5 in 10). Least drought: Gates County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (34% of weeks), then Nov (33%) and Jan (30%). Least in Sep (18%). May to September averages 23%.

  1. 30 Jan
  2. 27 Feb
  3. 26 Mar
  4. 29 Apr
  5. 23 May
  6. 26 Jun
  7. 28 Jul
  8. 21 Aug
  9. 18 Sep
  10. 28 Oct
  11. 33 Nov
  12. 34 Dec

The worst year: 2008

2008: 50 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 26.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.8% at D2, 6.7% at D3, 38 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 83 weeks, May 15, 2007 to Dec 9, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 31 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Iredell County lands on the plan covered in changing to a drought-tolerant grass. Its last ten years ran wetter than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Iredell County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.