Drought in Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 7
3. 27
4. 0
5. 0
6. 4
7. 0
8. 3
9. 0
10. 0
11. 3
12. 0
13. 10
14. 3
15. 0
16. 17
17. 30
18. 17
19. 0
20. 0
21. 6
22. 0
23. 9
24. 0
25. 9
26. 14

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (27 wk), 2015 (17 wk), 2016 (30 wk), 2017 (17 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of CT

8th most drought-prone of 9 CT counties; the CT middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Greater Bridgeport Planning Region (1.9 in 10) and Western Connecticut Planning Region (1.9 in 10). Driest in CT: Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Western Connecticut Planning Region (1.9 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (16% of weeks), then Dec (16%) and Jan (14%). Least in Jul (5%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 14 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 12 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 5 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2016

2016: 30 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 43 weeks, Jun 28, 2016 to Apr 18, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 4 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Naugatuck Valley Planning Region lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2016, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Naugatuck Valley Planning Region's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.