Drought in Worcester County, MD: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (38 wk), 2007 (25 wk), 2008 (19 wk), 2010 (14 wk) and 2012 (27 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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 Apr turns dry.

Against the rest of MD

13th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Frederick County (1.9 in 10) and Howard County (1.9 in 10). Driest in MD: Wicomico County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Garrett County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Apr (22% of weeks), then Jul (20%) and Feb (18%). Least in Oct (8%). May to September averages 16%.

16 Jan
18 Feb
18 Mar
22 Apr
13 May
13 Jun
20 Jul
17 Aug
18 Sep
8 Oct
11 Nov
13 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 38 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 15.5% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 6.2% at D2, 0.5% at D3, 1 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 44 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Aug 27, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 27 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 29 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.