Drought in Rockbridge County, VA: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Rockbridge County, VA: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 10
- 40
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 3
- 7
- 1
- 8
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 0
- 7
- 0
- 19
- 21
- 18
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (40 wk), 2023 (19 wk), 2024 (21 wk) and 2025 (18 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2022.
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.
Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).
Against the rest of VA
105th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Augusta County (1.5 in 10) and Lexington City (1.5 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Sep (20% of weeks), then Oct (19%) and Jan (18%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 13%.
- 18 Jan
- 15 Feb
- 15 Mar
- 11 Apr
- 7 May
- 12 Jun
- 12 Jul
- 15 Aug
- 20 Sep
- 19 Oct
- 14 Nov
- 16 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 40 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.6% at D2, 0.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 56 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Oct 6, 2026.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 18 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 40 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Rockbridge County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran drier than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Rockbridge County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.