Drought in Raleigh County, WV: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Raleigh County, WV: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (18 wk), 2007 (22 wk) and 2024 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of WV

17th most drought-prone of 55 WV counties; the WV middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Cabell County (1.5 in 10) and Lincoln County (1.2 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 Oct (19% of weeks), then Nov (14%) and Sep (11%). Least in Apr (3%). May to September averages 7%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 5 Feb
3. 3 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 5 Aug
9. 11 Sep
10. 19 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 22 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.8% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Jun 25, 2024 to Nov 12, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 11 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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