Drought in Somerset County, ME: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Somerset County, ME: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 20
- 36
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 11
- 4
- 0
- 0
- 21
- 21
- 2
- 0
- 2
- 19
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (20 wk), 2002 (36 wk), 2020 (21 wk), 2021 (21 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2023.
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 ME
14th most drought-prone of 16 ME counties; the ME middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Kennebec County (1.9 in 10) and Aroostook County (1.9 in 10). Driest in ME: Knox County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Penobscot County (1.5 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Sep (23% of weeks), then Oct (23%) and Nov (19%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 11%.
- 11 Jan
- 7 Feb
- 11 Mar
- 12 Apr
- 7 May
- 7 Jun
- 8 Jul
- 12 Aug
- 23 Sep
- 23 Oct
- 19 Nov
- 13 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 36 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 43 weeks, Aug 14, 2001 to Jun 4, 2002.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 19 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
Somerset County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Somerset County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.