Drought in Kent County, RI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Kent County, RI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 7
- 28
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 12
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 8
- 5
- 11
- 2
- 24
- 12
- 0
- 0
- 17
- 0
- 18
- 0
- 7
- 2
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (28 wk), 2016 (24 wk), 2020 (17 wk) and 2022 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 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 Nov turns dry.
Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).
Against the rest of RI
3rd most drought-prone of 5 RI counties; the RI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Washington County (1.9 in 10) and Newport County (1.5 in 10). Driest in RI: Providence County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Bristol County (1.5 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Nov (21% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Aug (15%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 12%.
- 8 Jan
- 9 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 8 Apr
- 12 May
- 9 Jun
- 9 Jul
- 15 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 14 Oct
- 21 Nov
- 12 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.6% at D2, 0.5% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, Jul 19, 2016 to Mar 14, 2017.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 10 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Kent County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran drier than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Kent County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.