Drought in Westchester County, NY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Westchester County, NY: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 10
3. 29
4. 0
5. 0
6. 4
7. 0
8. 0
9. 0
10. 0
11. 1
12. 0
13. 7
14. 10
15. 1
16. 19
17. 31
18. 14
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 0
23. 9
24. 1
25. 10
26. 22

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (29 wk), 2015 (19 wk), 2016 (31 wk), 2017 (14 wk) and 2025 (22 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 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.

Against the rest of NY

4th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Genesee County (2.3 in 10) and Orange County (1.9 in 10). Driest in NY: Rockland County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Otsego County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (20% of weeks), then Nov (19%) and Apr (16%). Least in Jun (7%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 15 Jan
2. 11 Feb
3. 10 Mar
4. 16 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 20 Dec

The worst year: 2016

2016: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 13% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 5.4% at D2, 0.2% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 42 weeks, Jun 21, 2016 to Apr 4, 2017.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 22 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Westchester County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2016, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Westchester County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.