Drought in Lackawanna County, PA: 0 years in 10 since 2000

0 years in 10

Lackawanna County, PA: 0 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. No full-season drought since 2000.

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

20002025

No year reached the drought line. Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

A regular lawn is fine here

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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

56th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Clarion County (0 in 10) and Cambria County (0 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 Dec (9% of weeks), then Feb (6%) and Nov (5%). Least in Jun (0%). May to September averages 1%.

1. 5 Jan
2. 6 Feb
3. 4 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 1 May
6. 0 Jun
7. 1 Jul
8. 3 Aug
9. 3 Sep
10. 2 Oct
11. 5 Nov
12. 9 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 11 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 3.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 10 weeks, Feb 12, 2002 to Apr 16, 2002.

Lately

No drought year on record. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Lackawanna County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Lackawanna County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.