Drought in Washington County, VT: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000
1.2 years in 10
Washington County, VT: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 20
- 13
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 11
- 8
- 10
- 0
- 11
- 8
- 4
- 0
- 2
- 19
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (20 wk), 2002 (13 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2023.
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 VT
8th most drought-prone of 14 VT counties; the VT middle is 1.5499999999999998 in 10. Closest on the list: Essex County (1.9 in 10) and Rutland County (1.2 in 10). Driest in VT: Windsor County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Chittenden County (0.4 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Oct (17% of weeks), then Nov (16%) and Sep (16%). Least in May (1%). May to September averages 6%.
- 8 Jan
- 6 Feb
- 3 Mar
- 3 Apr
- 1 May
- 1 Jun
- 3 Jul
- 8 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 17 Oct
- 16 Nov
- 13 Dec
The worst year: 2001
2001: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 31 weeks, Aug 28, 2001 to Mar 26, 2002.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 4 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, 2001, 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.