Drought in Madison County, TN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Madison County, TN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 36
- 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 3
- 8
- 26
- 0
- 0
- 12
- 6
- 27
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 8
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 9
- 11
- 16
- 11
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (36 wk), 2001 (13 wk), 2007 (26 wk), 2012 (27 wk) and 2024 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 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
68th most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Hancock County (1.9 in 10) and Williamson County (1.9 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 (24% of weeks), then Oct (23%) and Jan (22%). Least in Apr (3%). May to September averages 15%.
- 22 Jan
- 17 Feb
- 9 Mar
- 3 Apr
- 13 May
- 9 Jun
- 14 Jul
- 20 Aug
- 21 Sep
- 23 Oct
- 24 Nov
- 16 Dec
The worst year: 2000
2000: 36 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 15.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 7.3% at D2, 2.2% at D3, 4 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 31 weeks, Jul 18, 2000 to Feb 13, 2001.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 30 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Madison County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Madison County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.