Drought in Wyoming County, NY: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000
1.9 years in 10
Wyoming County, NY: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 0
- 16
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 2
- 15
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 24
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 5
- 0
- 29
- 4
- 16
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (16 wk), 2012 (15 wk), 2016 (24 wk), 2023 (29 wk) and 2025 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
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 Aug turns dry.
Against the rest of NY
8th most drought-prone of 62 NY counties; the NY middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Orleans County (1.9 in 10) and Kings County (1.5 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 Aug (21% of weeks), then Sep (21%) and Oct (18%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 12%.
- 3 Jan
- 0 Feb
- 1 Mar
- 3 Apr
- 2 May
- 3 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 21 Aug
- 21 Sep
- 18 Oct
- 12 Nov
- 9 Dec
The worst year: 2023
2023: 29 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, 0.3% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 33 weeks, Jun 13, 2023 to Jan 23, 2024.
Lately
Last drought year: 2025, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Wyoming County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2023, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Wyoming County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.