Drought in Transylvania County, NC: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (38 wk), 2001 (42 wk), 2002 (36 wk), 2006 (19 wk), 2007 (38 wk), 2008 (53 wk), 2009 (18 wk), 2016 (30 wk) and 2017 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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 Jul 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 27% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of NC

20th most drought-prone of 100 NC counties; the NC middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Iredell County (3.5 in 10) and Cherokee County (3.5 in 10). Driest in NC: Cleveland County (5 in 10). Least drought: Gates County (1.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jul (31% of weeks), then Dec (30%) and Mar (29%). Least in May (23%). May to September averages 27%.

28 Jan
23 Feb
29 Mar
28 Apr
23 May
26 Jun
31 Jul
29 Aug
26 Sep
27 Oct
24 Nov
30 Dec

The worst year: 2008

2008: 53 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 26.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 17.3% at D2, 8.5% at D3, 43 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 109 weeks, Apr 10, 2007 to May 5, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2017, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 41 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.