Drought in Orleans County, NY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Orleans County, NY: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (14 wk), 2007 (18 wk), 2016 (25 wk), 2023 (14 wk) and 2025 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of NY

7th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Dutchess County (1.9 in 10) and Wyoming County (1.9 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 (23% of weeks), then Sep (21%) and Jul (17%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 13%.

1. 6 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 17 Jul
8. 23 Aug
9. 21 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2016

2016: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.4% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Jun 28, 2016 to Dec 13, 2016.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 3 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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