Drought in Putnam County, WV: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Putnam County, WV: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (25 wk) and 2024 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 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 WV

27th most drought-prone of 55 WV counties; the WV middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Mason County (0.8 in 10) and Nicholas County (0.8 in 10). Driest in WV: Mercer County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Hancock County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (15% of weeks), then Oct (13%) and Nov (11%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 1 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 1 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 7 Jul
8. 7 Aug
9. 15 Sep
10. 13 Oct
11. 11 Nov
12. 7 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 0.9% at D3, 11 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Jun 19, 2007 to Dec 4, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 8 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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