Drought in Penobscot County, ME: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Penobscot County, ME: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 25
3. 46
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 5
12. 0
13. 0
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 11
18. 7
19. 0
20. 0
21. 18
22. 3
23. 4
24. 0
25. 11
26. 28

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (25 wk), 2002 (46 wk), 2020 (18 wk) and 2025 (28 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of ME

16th most drought-prone of 16 ME counties; the ME middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Aroostook County (1.9 in 10). Driest in ME: Knox County (3.1 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (23% of weeks), then Oct (23%) and Nov (19%). Least in May (3%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 7 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 23 Sep
10. 23 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.6% at D2, 1.1% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 45 weeks, Aug 7, 2001 to Jun 11, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 28 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 29 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Penobscot County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Penobscot County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.