Drought in Washington County, RI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Washington County, RI: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 7
- 28
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 8
- 0
- 11
- 19
- 24
- 11
- 0
- 0
- 18
- 0
- 20
- 2
- 7
- 2
20002025
Drought years: 2002 (28 wk), 2015 (19 wk), 2016 (24 wk), 2020 (18 wk) and 2022 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2019 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 Nov turns dry.
Against the rest of RI
2nd most drought-prone of 5 RI counties; the RI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Providence County (2.3 in 10) and Kent County (1.5 in 10). Driest in RI: Providence County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Bristol County (1.5 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Nov (21% of weeks), then Aug (19%) and Sep (18%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 14%.
- 9 Jan
- 12 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 9 Apr
- 10 May
- 12 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 19 Aug
- 18 Sep
- 15 Oct
- 21 Nov
- 13 Dec
The worst year: 2002
2002: 28 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.9% at D2, 0.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 35 weeks, Jul 19, 2016 to Mar 14, 2017.
Lately
Last drought year: 2022, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 15 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Washington County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Washington County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.