Drought in Shenandoah County, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Shenandoah County, VA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 7
- 26
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 1
- 5
- 0
- 7
- 22
- 8
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 22
- 23
- 28
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (26 wk), 2010 (22 wk), 2023 (22 wk), 2024 (23 wk) and 2025 (28 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 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 Sep turns dry.
Against the rest of VA
89th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Middlesex County (1.9 in 10) and Sussex County (1.9 in 10). Driest in VA: Halifax County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Covington City (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Sep (22% of weeks), then Oct (18%) and Nov (16%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 12%.
- 13 Jan
- 12 Feb
- 8 Mar
- 13 Apr
- 7 May
- 7 Jun
- 11 Jul
- 16 Aug
- 22 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 16 Nov
- 16 Dec
The worst year: 2025
2025: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.8% at D2, 0.7% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Nov 20, 2001 to May 7, 2002.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 28 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 33 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.