Drought in Vermilion Parish, LA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Vermilion Parish, LA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 47
- 0
- 6
- 5
- 0
- 5
- 24
- 0
- 0
- 9
- 6
- 36
- 10
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 3
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 36
- 26
- 4
- 6
20002025
Drought years: 2000 (47 wk), 2006 (24 wk), 2011 (36 wk), 2022 (36 wk) and 2023 (26 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
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 Oct turns dry.
Against the rest of LA
61st most drought-prone of 64 LA counties; the LA middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Beauregard Parish (1.9 in 10) and Washington Parish (1.9 in 10). Driest in LA: Caddo Parish (4.6 in 10). Least drought: East Feliciana Parish (1.9 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (30% of weeks), then May (28%) and Aug (25%). Least in Dec (9%). May to September averages 22%.
- 17 Jan
- 19 Feb
- 14 Mar
- 17 Apr
- 28 May
- 22 Jun
- 17 Jul
- 25 Aug
- 20 Sep
- 30 Oct
- 16 Nov
- 9 Dec
The worst year: 2000
2000: 47 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 19.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 10.7% at D2, 5.6% at D3, 35 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 47 weeks, Jan 4, 2000 to Nov 21, 2000.
Lately
Last drought year: 2023, 26 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Vermilion Parish lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Vermilion Parish's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.