Drought in Skagit County, WA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Skagit County, WA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 42
3. 0
4. 11
5. 3
6. 6
7. 6
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 0
14. 0
15. 6
16. 21
17. 0
18. 7
19. 3
20. 19
21. 0
22. 0
23. 12
24. 29
25. 10
26. 44

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (42 wk), 2015 (21 wk), 2019 (19 wk), 2023 (29 wk) and 2025 (44 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of WA

32nd most drought-prone of 39 WA counties; the WA middle is 3.5 in 10. Closest on the list: San Juan County (2.3 in 10) and Clallam County (1.9 in 10). Driest in WA: Grant County (5 in 10). Least drought: Jefferson County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (36% of weeks), then Oct (31%) and Aug (25%). Least in Jan (6%). May to September averages 22%.

1. 6 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 7 Mar
4. 8 Apr
5. 14 May
6. 16 Jun
7. 21 Jul
8. 25 Aug
9. 36 Sep
10. 31 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 44 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 16.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.3% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 44 weeks, Feb 11, 2025 to Dec 9, 2025.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 44 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 12 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Skagit 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 Skagit County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.