Drought in Pickett County, TN: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

1. 24
2. 7
3. 2
4. 0
5. 0
6. 9
7. 4
8. 38
9. 38
10. 1
11. 0
12. 0
13. 4
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 12
18. 0
19. 0
20. 1
21. 0
22. 0
23. 4
24. 9
25. 13
26. 1

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (24 wk), 2007 (38 wk), 2008 (38 wk) and 2024 (13 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

89th most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Clay County (1.5 in 10) and Hardeman County (1.2 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 (31% of weeks), then Dec (22%) and Jan (14%). Least in Mar (5%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 14 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 5 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 9 May
6. 11 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 31 Nov
12. 22 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 38 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.4% at D2, 1.6% at D3, 1 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 44 weeks, May 22, 2007 to Mar 18, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 13 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Pickett 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 Pickett County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.