DroughtOdds

Drought in Shelby County, TX: 3.1 years in 10 since 2000

3.1 years in 10

Shelby County, TX: 8 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

  1. 22
  2. 0
  3. 4
  4. 3
  5. 0
  6. 20
  7. 24
  8. 0
  9. 5
  10. 2
  11. 32
  12. 52
  13. 15
  14. 8
  15. 0
  16. 12
  17. 6
  18. 7
  19. 11
  20. 2
  21. 6
  22. 10
  23. 26
  24. 24
  25. 8
  26. 9

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2005 (20 wk), 2006 (24 wk), 2010 (32 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2012 (15 wk), 2022 (26 wk) and 2023 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2014.

Keep a lawn, but switch to drought-tolerant grass

Dry years come often enough to kill a thirsty lawn every few summers. Keep the lawn, reseed with a drought-tolerant mix, and put the beds on drip.

If you reseed, use a drought-tolerant mix and do it well clear of Nov, the month drought is most common here. Put beds on drip before the next dry year.

Against the rest of TX

242nd most drought-prone of 254 TX counties; the TX middle is 5.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Bowie County (3.1 in 10) and Angelina County (3.1 in 10). Driest in TX: Uvalde County (7.7 in 10). Least drought: Jasper County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (33% of weeks), then Jan (32%) and Aug (31%). Least in Apr (7%). May to September averages 24%.

  1. 32 Jan
  2. 23 Feb
  3. 22 Mar
  4. 7 Apr
  5. 11 May
  6. 24 Jun
  7. 25 Jul
  8. 31 Aug
  9. 29 Sep
  10. 30 Oct
  11. 33 Nov
  12. 29 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 24.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.8% at D2, 4.6% at D3, 37 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 96 weeks, May 25, 2010 to Mar 20, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 36 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Shelby County lands on the plan covered in changing to a drought-tolerant grass. Its worst year, 2011, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Shelby County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.