Drought in Niagara County, NY: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 20
3. 3
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 16
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 4
13. 11
14. 0
15. 0
16. 2
17. 34
18. 6
19. 7
20. 0
21. 12
22. 5
23. 0
24. 6
25. 0
26. 14

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (20 wk), 2007 (16 wk), 2016 (34 wk) and 2025 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2024.

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.

Against the rest of NY

14th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Queens County (1.5 in 10) and Monroe County (1.5 in 10). Driest in NY: Rockland County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Otsego County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (24% of weeks), then Sep (20%) and Oct (18%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 13%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 1 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 16 Jul
8. 24 Aug
9. 20 Sep
10. 18 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2016

2016: 34 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Jun 28, 2016 to Feb 7, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Niagara County 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 Niagara County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.