Drought in Pend Oreille County, WA: 4.6 years in 10 since 2000

4.6 years in 10

Pend Oreille County, WA: 12 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (48 wk), 2003 (23 wk), 2005 (22 wk), 2007 (16 wk), 2015 (36 wk), 2018 (13 wk), 2019 (14 wk), 2021 (37 wk), 2022 (24 wk), 2023 (39 wk), 2024 (42 wk) and 2025 (27 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Oct peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (7 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (3.1 in 10).

Against the rest of WA

6th most drought-prone of 39 WA counties; the WA middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Garfield County (4.6 in 10) and Douglas County (4.2 in 10). Driest in WA: Grant County (5 in 10). Least drought: Jefferson County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (42% of weeks), then Sep (41%) and Aug (40%). Least in Jan (10%). May to September averages 34%.

10 Jan
17 Feb
17 Mar
25 Apr
28 May
27 Jun
32 Jul
40 Aug
41 Sep
42 Oct
30 Nov
24 Dec

The worst year: 2001

2001: 48 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 27.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 12.5% at D2, 3.2% at D3, 11 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 74 weeks, Apr 4, 2023 to Aug 27, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 27 weeks. 2016-2025: 7 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 32 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.