Drought in Rutland County, VT: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (16 wk), 2002 (14 wk) and 2016 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

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 VT

9th most drought-prone of 14 VT counties; the VT middle is 1.5499999999999998 in 10. Closest on the list: Washington County (1.2 in 10) and Addison County (1.2 in 10). Driest in VT: Windsor County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Chittenden County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (12% of weeks), then Oct (10%) and Nov (10%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 5%.

8 Jan
6 Feb
5 Mar
3 Apr
0 May
3 Jun
7 Jul
4 Aug
12 Sep
10 Oct
10 Nov
7 Dec

The worst year: 2001

2001: 16 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 6.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Oct 9, 2001 to Mar 26, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2016, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.