Drought in Simpson County, MS: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Simpson County, MS: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 38
- 2
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 16
- 26
- 1
- 3
- 10
- 18
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 12
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 6
- 19
- 4
- 0
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (38 wk), 2006 (16 wk), 2007 (26 wk), 2011 (18 wk) and 2023 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2025.
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 Oct turns dry.
Against the rest of MS
80th most drought-prone of 82 MS counties; the MS middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Tippah County (1.9 in 10) and Rankin County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MS: Tallahatchie County (4.2 in 10). Least drought: Benton County (1.5 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (22% of weeks), then Aug (19%) and Sep (18%). Least in Apr (9%). May to September averages 15%.
- 11 Jan
- 9 Feb
- 16 Mar
- 9 Apr
- 11 May
- 10 Jun
- 16 Jul
- 19 Aug
- 18 Sep
- 22 Oct
- 16 Nov
- 9 Dec
The worst year: 2000
2000: 38 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.7% at D2, 2.3% at D3, 13 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, Jun 27, 2000 to Dec 12, 2000.
Lately
Last drought year: 2023, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 2.5 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 24 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Simpson County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Simpson County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.