Drought in Wasco County, OR: 5 years in 10 since 2000

5 years in 10

Wasco County, OR: 13 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (46 wk), 2003 (13 wk), 2005 (48 wk), 2014 (52 wk), 2015 (52 wk), 2018 (24 wk), 2019 (14 wk), 2020 (50 wk), 2021 (52 wk), 2022 (34 wk), 2023 (50 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.

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 Sep peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (8 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (3.1 in 10).

Against the rest of OR

15th most drought-prone of 36 OR counties; the OR middle is 4.4 in 10. Closest on the list: Morrow County (5 in 10) and Jackson County (4.6 in 10). Driest in OR: Lake County (7.7 in 10). Least drought: Clatsop County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (44% of weeks), then Nov (43%) and Oct (43%). Least in Jan (27%). May to September averages 38%.

27 Jan
36 Feb
37 Mar
33 Apr
33 May
35 Jun
38 Jul
41 Aug
44 Sep
43 Oct
43 Nov
38 Dec

The worst year: 2021

2021: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 37.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 17.5% at D2, 4.8% at D3, 49 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 133 weeks, Jan 21, 2020 to Aug 2, 2022.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 8 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 33 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.