Drought in Saint Mary's County, MD: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Saint Mary's County, MD: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (46 wk), 2007 (25 wk), 2008 (16 wk), 2012 (14 wk) and 2025 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 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 Jul turns dry.

Against the rest of MD

8th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Washington County (2.3 in 10) and Calvert County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MD: Wicomico County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Garrett County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jul (24% of weeks), then Apr (24%) and Jan (19%). Least in Sep (11%). May to September averages 16%.

19 Jan
16 Feb
19 Mar
24 Apr
13 May
15 Jun
24 Jul
15 Aug
11 Sep
14 Oct
14 Nov
17 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 46 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 16.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.4% at D2, 1.3% at D3, 2 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 55 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 31 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.