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

3.5 years in 10

Union 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 (22 wk), 2001 (46 wk), 2002 (48 wk), 2007 (29 wk), 2008 (38 wk), 2011 (14 wk), 2012 (16 wk), 2015 (14 wk) and 2025 (29 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2014 and 2020.

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 26% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of NC

15th most drought-prone of 100 NC counties; the NC middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Columbus County (3.8 in 10) and Macon 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 Nov (44% of weeks), then Dec (42%) and Jan (30%). Least in Jul (20%). May to September averages 26%.

30 Jan
26 Feb
26 Mar
27 Apr
26 May
29 Jun
20 Jul
24 Aug
29 Sep
30 Oct
44 Nov
42 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 48 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 29.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 13.5% at D2, 6.5% at D3, 37 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 67 weeks, Aug 7, 2001 to Nov 12, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 29 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 5 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 41 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.