Drought in Windham County, VT: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2001 (14 wk), 2002 (17 wk), 2016 (23 wk), 2020 (15 wk) and 2025 (25 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of VT

4th most drought-prone of 14 VT counties; the VT middle is 1.5499999999999998 in 10. Closest on the list: Orleans County (1.9 in 10) and Caledonia County (1.9 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 Sep (21% of weeks), then Nov (13%) and Jul (13%). Least in Jun (6%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 7 Mar
4. 10 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 13 Jul
8. 11 Aug
9. 21 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 11 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.3% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Apr 9, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 25 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 1 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Windham County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Windham County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.