Drought in Sonoma County, CA: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Sonoma County, CA: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

1. 0
2. 12
3. 5
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 34
9. 32
10. 52
11. 2
12. 0
13. 11
14. 35
15. 52
16. 52
17. 10
18. 0
19. 6
20. 4
21. 41
22. 52
23. 52
24. 8
25. 0
26. 0

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (34 wk), 2008 (32 wk), 2009 (52 wk), 2013 (35 wk), 2014 (52 wk), 2015 (52 wk), 2020 (41 wk), 2021 (52 wk) and 2022 (52 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2017, 2024 and 2025.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Nov peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 33% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of CA

56th most drought-prone of 58 CA counties; the CA middle is 4.6 in 10. Closest on the list: Santa Cruz County (3.8 in 10) and Humboldt County (3.5 in 10). Driest in CA: Imperial County (6.9 in 10). Least drought: Del Norte County (3.1 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Nov (40% of weeks), then Dec (40%) and Oct (39%). Least in Apr (24%). May to September averages 33%.

1. 33 Jan
2. 27 Feb
3. 27 Mar
4. 24 Apr
5. 27 May
6. 35 Jun
7. 33 Jul
8. 32 Aug
9. 38 Sep
10. 39 Oct
11. 40 Nov
12. 40 Dec

The worst year: 2014

2014: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 32.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 23.4% at D2, 6.6% at D3, 47 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 153 weeks, Mar 24, 2020 to Feb 21, 2023.

Lately

Last drought year: 2022, 52 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Sonoma County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2014, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Sonoma County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.