Drought in Lincoln County, WA: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Lincoln County, WA: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (46 wk), 2003 (23 wk), 2005 (48 wk), 2014 (51 wk), 2015 (28 wk), 2021 (39 wk), 2022 (39 wk), 2024 (19 wk) and 2025 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Nov peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 29% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of WA

17th most drought-prone of 39 WA counties; the WA middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Spokane County (3.8 in 10) and Kittitas County (3.5 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 Nov (38% of weeks), then Sep (38%) and Oct (37%). Least in Jan (16%). May to September averages 29%.

16 Jan
17 Feb
20 Mar
22 Apr
23 May
23 Jun
28 Jul
32 Aug
38 Sep
37 Oct
38 Nov
30 Dec

The worst year: 2014

2014: 51 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 27% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 14.1% at D2, 2.7% at D3, 16 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 64 weeks, Apr 6, 2021 to Jun 21, 2022.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 4 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 35 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.