Drought in Patillas Municipio, PR: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Patillas Municipio, PR: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (13 wk), 2015 (32 wk) and 2016 (13 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

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 Mar turns dry.

Against the rest of PR

16th most drought-prone of 78 PR counties; the PR middle is 0.4 in 10. Closest on the list: Hatillo Municipio (1.2 in 10) and Canovanas Municipio (0.8 in 10). Driest in PR: Salinas Municipio (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Mayaguez Municipio (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Mar (10% of weeks), then Jul (10%) and Jun (10%). Least in Oct (3%). May to September averages 8%.

5 Jan
7 Feb
10 Mar
5 Apr
4 May
10 Jun
10 Jul
7 Aug
7 Sep
3 Oct
4 Nov
6 Dec

The worst year: 2015

2015: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 1.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 44 weeks, Jun 2, 2015 to Mar 29, 2016.

Lately

Last drought year: 2016, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.