Drought in Schuylkill County, PA: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

1. 0
2. 2
3. 21
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 0
8. 2
9. 0
10. 0
11. 3
12. 0
13. 4
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 10
19. 6
20. 0
21. 7
22. 0
23. 0
24. 6
25. 15
26. 32

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (21 wk), 2024 (15 wk) and 2025 (32 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 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 Feb turns dry.

Against the rest of PA

14th most drought-prone of 67 PA counties; the PA middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Carbon County (1.2 in 10) and Pike County (1.2 in 10). Driest in PA: Adams County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Susquehanna County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Feb (15% of weeks), then Dec (14%) and Jan (13%). Least in Aug (2%). May to September averages 5%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 10 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 2 Aug
9. 5 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 14 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.8% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Oct 22, 2024 to May 13, 2025.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 32 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 11 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Schuylkill County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Schuylkill County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.