DroughtOdds

Drought in Pickens County, GA: 3.1 years in 10 since 2000

3.1 years in 10

Pickens County, GA: 8 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

  1. 52
  2. 31
  3. 31
  4. 0
  5. 0
  6. 0
  7. 12
  8. 40
  9. 53
  10. 2
  11. 6
  12. 11
  13. 22
  14. 2
  15. 0
  16. 0
  17. 34
  18. 20
  19. 3
  20. 8
  21. 0
  22. 0
  23. 12
  24. 11
  25. 9
  26. 1

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (52 wk), 2001 (31 wk), 2002 (31 wk), 2007 (40 wk), 2008 (53 wk), 2012 (22 wk), 2016 (34 wk) and 2017 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2021.

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 Nov peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 27% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of GA

154th most drought-prone of 159 GA counties; the GA middle is 4.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Lumpkin County (3.1 in 10) and Gordon County (3.1 in 10). Driest in GA: Berrien County (5.8 in 10). Least drought: Gilmer County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (37% of weeks), then Jan (31%) and Jul (31%). Least in Apr (22%). May to September averages 27%.

  1. 31 Jan
  2. 24 Feb
  3. 23 Mar
  4. 22 Apr
  5. 25 May
  6. 24 Jun
  7. 31 Jul
  8. 27 Aug
  9. 28 Sep
  10. 30 Oct
  11. 37 Nov
  12. 30 Dec

The worst year: 2008

2008: 53 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 27.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 16.6% at D2, 8.9% at D3, 46 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 94 weeks, Mar 27, 2007 to Jan 6, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2017, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 27 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Pickens County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2008, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Pickens County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.