Drought in Mercer County, NJ: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Mercer County, NJ: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 11
- 43
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 0
- 6
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 16
- 3
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 8
- 0
- 17
- 30
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (43 wk), 2016 (16 wk), 2024 (17 wk) and 2025 (30 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
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.
Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).
Against the rest of NJ
8th most drought-prone of 21 NJ counties; the NJ middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Sussex County (1.5 in 10) and Warren County (1.5 in 10). Driest in NJ: Passaic County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Monmouth County (0.4 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Sep (20% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (17%). Least in Jun (7%). May to September averages 11%.
- 13 Jan
- 11 Feb
- 8 Mar
- 10 Apr
- 11 May
- 7 Jun
- 10 Jul
- 8 Aug
- 20 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 17 Nov
- 16 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 43 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.6% at D2, 0.8% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 34 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Jun 18, 2002.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 30 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 27 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Mercer County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran drier than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Mercer County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.