Drought in Newport County, RI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Newport County, RI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 6
- 28
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 9
- 0
- 5
- 7
- 22
- 11
- 0
- 0
- 18
- 0
- 20
- 0
- 4
- 4
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (28 wk), 2016 (22 wk), 2020 (18 wk) and 2022 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 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 Aug 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 RI
4th most drought-prone of 5 RI counties; the RI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Kent County (1.5 in 10) and Bristol County (1.5 in 10). Driest in RI: Providence County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Bristol County (1.5 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Aug (17% of weeks), then Sep (16%) and Nov (15%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 12%.
- 10 Jan
- 12 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 8 Apr
- 9 May
- 12 Jun
- 8 Jul
- 17 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 15 Oct
- 15 Nov
- 11 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.4% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Aug 2, 2016 to Mar 14, 2017.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 19 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Newport 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 Newport County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.