Drought in Island County, WA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Island County, WA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 35
3. 0
4. 8
5. 5
6. 0
7. 6
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 0
14. 0
15. 6
16. 21
17. 0
18. 7
19. 7
20. 16
21. 0
22. 11
23. 12
24. 21
25. 0
26. 28

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (35 wk), 2015 (21 wk), 2019 (16 wk), 2023 (21 wk) and 2025 (28 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020 and 2024.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of WA

35th most drought-prone of 39 WA counties; the WA middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Pacific County (1.9 in 10) and Grays Harbor County (1.9 in 10). Driest in WA: Grant County (5 in 10). Least drought: Jefferson County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (31% of weeks), then Sep (30%) and Oct (23%). Least in Jan (3%). May to September averages 20%.

1. 3 Jan
2. 5 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 21 Jul
8. 31 Aug
9. 30 Sep
10. 23 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 6 Dec

The worst year: 2001

2001: 35 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.7% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, Feb 13, 2001 to Oct 9, 2001.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 28 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Island County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2001, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Island County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.