Drought in Onondaga County, NY: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2012 (15 wk), 2016 (18 wk) and 2020 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of NY

26th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Lewis County (1.2 in 10) and Columbia County (0.8 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 Oct (11% of weeks), then Aug (9%) and Sep (9%). Least in Jun (0%). May to September averages 5%.

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

The worst year: 2016

2016: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 3.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 18 weeks, Jul 5, 2016 to Nov 1, 2016.

Lately

Last drought year: 2020, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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