Drought in Rutherford County, TN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Rutherford County, TN: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 36
- 10
- 2
- 0
- 0
- 8
- 3
- 43
- 50
- 0
- 10
- 8
- 6
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 0
- 7
- 11
- 21
- 3
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (36 wk), 2007 (43 wk), 2008 (50 wk), 2016 (14 wk) and 2024 (21 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2009, 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
60th most drought-prone of 95 TN counties; the TN middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Cannon County (1.9 in 10) and Lawrence County (1.9 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 (36% of weeks), then Oct (26%) and Dec (25%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 15%.
- 22 Jan
- 19 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 11 Apr
- 18 May
- 12 Jun
- 18 Jul
- 11 Aug
- 17 Sep
- 26 Oct
- 36 Nov
- 25 Dec
The worst year: 2008
2008: 50 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 18.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 8.3% at D2, 3.7% at D3, 30 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 90 weeks, Mar 27, 2007 to Dec 9, 2008.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 21 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 21 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Rutherford County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2008, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Rutherford County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.