Drought in Northumberland County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Northumberland County, PA: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (15 wk), 2017 (18 wk) and 2025 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

18th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Bedford County (1.2 in 10) and Perry County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (15% of weeks), then Feb (12%) and Jan (11%). Least in Aug (0%). May to September averages 2%.

1. 11 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 10 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 1 Jun
7. 3 Jul
8. 0 Aug
9. 3 Sep
10. 9 Oct
11. 8 Nov
12. 15 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Nov 15, 2016 to May 2, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 9 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Northumberland County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Northumberland County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.