Drought in Vernon Parish, LA: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Vernon Parish, LA: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 28
2. 0
3. 9
4. 5
5. 0
6. 8
7. 3
8. 0
9. 6
10. 5
11. 34
12. 52
13. 11
14. 10
15. 2
16. 12
17. 9
18. 5
19. 4
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 25
24. 26
25. 12
26. 0

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (28 wk), 2010 (34 wk), 2011 (52 wk), 2022 (25 wk) and 2023 (26 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2019, 2020, 2021 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of LA

59th most drought-prone of 64 LA counties; the LA middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Sabine Parish (1.9 in 10) and Beauregard 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 Sep (28% of weeks), then Jan (27%) and Nov (26%). Least in Apr (11%). May to September averages 21%.

1. 27 Jan
2. 20 Feb
3. 19 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 17 Jun
7. 23 Jul
8. 24 Aug
9. 28 Sep
10. 26 Oct
11. 26 Nov
12. 20 Dec

The worst year: 2011

2011: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 21.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 11.1% at D2, 6.7% at D3, 62 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 91 weeks, May 11, 2010 to Jan 31, 2012.

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: 29 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Vernon Parish lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2011, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Vernon Parish's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.