Drought in Newport News City, VA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Newport News City, VA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 9
3. 43
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 6
8. 23
9. 16
10. 0
11. 5
12. 10
13. 0
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 1
21. 0
22. 6
23. 2
24. 1
25. 9
26. 6

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (43 wk), 2007 (23 wk) and 2008 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of VA

132nd most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Williamsburg City (1.2 in 10) and Covington City (1.2 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (15% of weeks), then Apr (14%) and Jul (13%). Least in Mar (8%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 14 Apr
5. 12 May
6. 12 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 11 Sep
10. 12 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 15 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 43 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.2% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 52 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Oct 22, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2008, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 24 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Newport News City 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 Newport News City's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.