Drought in Sussex County, VA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (43 wk), 2007 (25 wk), 2008 (19 wk), 2010 (13 wk) and 2011 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023 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 Jul turns dry.

Against the rest of VA

90th most drought-prone of 133 VA counties; the VA middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Shenandoah County (1.9 in 10) and Rockingham 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 Jul (18% of weeks), then Apr (17%) and Sep (16%). Least in Jan (8%). May to September averages 15%.

8 Jan
12 Feb
12 Mar
17 Apr
13 May
13 Jun
18 Jul
14 Aug
16 Sep
15 Oct
9 Nov
10 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 43 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.1% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 4 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 52 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Oct 22, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2011, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 25 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.