Drought in Macon County, TN: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

1. 31
2. 7
3. 1
4. 0
5. 0
6. 8
7. 4
8. 35
9. 29
10. 1
11. 0
12. 1
13. 5
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 9
18. 0
19. 0
20. 1
21. 0
22. 0
23. 8
24. 11
25. 7
26. 1

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (31 wk), 2007 (35 wk) and 2008 (29 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of TN

94th most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Sumner County (1.2 in 10) and Robertson County (1.2 in 10). Driest in TN: Bradley County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Robertson County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (28% of weeks), then Oct (20%) and Dec (19%). Least in Mar (3%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 10 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 4 Apr
5. 9 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 20 Oct
11. 28 Nov
12. 19 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 35 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.1% at D2, 1.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 41 weeks, May 22, 2007 to Feb 26, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2008, 29 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 19 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Macon County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Macon County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.