Drought in Rensselaer County, NY: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Rensselaer County, NY: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021 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 Nov turns dry.

Against the rest of NY

38th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Oneida County (0.8 in 10) and Greene County (0.4 in 10). Driest in NY: Rockland County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Otsego County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (12% of weeks), then Sep (10%) and Dec (9%). Least in Apr (2%). May to September averages 5%.

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

The worst year: 2002

2002: 15 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 23 weeks, Nov 6, 2001 to Apr 9, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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