Drought in James City County, VA: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

James City County, VA: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (43 wk), 2007 (22 wk), 2008 (16 wk) and 2010 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

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 Apr turns dry.

Against the rest of VA

120th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Charles City County (1.5 in 10) and Alleghany County (1.5 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 Apr (13% of weeks), then Sep (13%) and Jul (13%). Least in Mar (8%). May to September averages 12%.

12 Jan
12 Feb
8 Mar
13 Apr
12 May
12 Jun
13 Jul
10 Aug
13 Sep
12 Oct
9 Nov
11 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 43 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.9% at D2, 0.6% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 52 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Oct 22, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2010, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 17 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.