Drought in Juniata County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Juniata County, PA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (19 wk), 2017 (18 wk) and 2020 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 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 Feb turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

20th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Perry County (1.2 in 10) and Mifflin County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Feb (10% of weeks), then Dec (10%) and Sep (10%). Least in Jul (3%). May to September averages 5%.

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

The worst year: 2020

2020: 19 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Nov 15, 2016 to May 2, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2020, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 10 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Juniata County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2020, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Juniata County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.