Drought in Livingston County, KY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Livingston County, KY: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 14
- 6
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 17
- 0
- 0
- 19
- 0
- 34
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 7
- 0
- 0
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 17
- 5
- 9
- 5
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (14 wk), 2007 (17 wk), 2010 (19 wk), 2012 (34 wk) and 2022 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.
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 Sep turns dry.
Against the rest of KY
18th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Caldwell County (1.9 in 10) and Whitley County (1.5 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Sep (21% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (17%). Least in Mar (1%). May to September averages 15%.
- 2 Jan
- 1 Feb
- 1 Mar
- 9 Apr
- 12 May
- 12 Jun
- 14 Jul
- 14 Aug
- 21 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 17 Nov
- 7 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 34 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.4% at D2, 1.4% at D3, 8 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 34 weeks, Apr 17, 2012 to Dec 4, 2012.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 10 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Livingston County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Livingston County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.