Drought in Overton County, TN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Overton County, TN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 28
- 7
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 8
- 4
- 40
- 40
- 1
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 19
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 11
- 18
- 3
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (28 wk), 2007 (40 wk), 2008 (40 wk), 2016 (19 wk) and 2024 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.
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 Nov turns dry.
Against the rest of TN
78th most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Smith County (1.9 in 10) and Wilson County (1.9 in 10). Driest in TN: Bradley County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Robertson County (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Nov (28% of weeks), then Dec (24%) and Oct (18%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 13%.
- 16 Jan
- 12 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 8 Apr
- 13 May
- 13 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 12 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 28 Nov
- 24 Dec
The worst year: 2007
2007: 40 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.6% at D2, 2.1% at D3, 7 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 46 weeks, May 22, 2007 to Apr 1, 2008.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 18 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Overton County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Overton County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.