Drought in Monroe County, WV: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Monroe County, WV: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (13 wk), 2002 (29 wk), 2009 (13 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of WV

10th most drought-prone of 55 WV counties; the WV middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Hampshire County (1.5 in 10) and Pendleton County (1.5 in 10). Driest in WV: Mercer County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Hancock County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (20% of weeks), then Nov (19%) and Sep (14%). Least in May (5%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 10 Feb
3. 9 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 10 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 20 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 13 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 29 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 0.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Oct 14, 2008 to Mar 31, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 15 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Monroe County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Monroe County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.