Drought in Warren County, NJ: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Warren County, NJ: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (32 wk), 2016 (25 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (26 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 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 Dec turns dry.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (3 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (0.6 in 10).

Against the rest of NJ

9th most drought-prone of 21 NJ counties; the NJ middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Mercer County (1.5 in 10) and Burlington County (1.5 in 10). Driest in NJ: Passaic County (1.9 in 10). Least drought: Monmouth County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (20% of weeks), then Nov (17%) and Jan (15%). Least in Aug (5%). May to September averages 9%.

15 Jan
15 Feb
12 Mar
10 Apr
13 May
7 Jun
6 Jul
5 Aug
15 Sep
13 Oct
17 Nov
20 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 32 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.5% at D2, 0.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 31 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to May 28, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 26 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 22 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.