Is New York in a drought?
This week's U.S. Drought Monitor for New York, and the category in each of its 62 counties, from the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Yes, in part: 1.62% of New York is in drought (D1 to D4).
43.16% is at least abnormally dry (D0 to D4), 0% in severe drought or worse (D2 to D4), 0% extreme or worse (D3 to D4) and 0% in D4 Exceptional Drought.
Next map: released Thursday 22 October 2026.
On the map valid 13 October 2026, 4 of 62 counties had some drought (D1 or worse); 32 more were abnormally dry (D0) only.
Every county, map valid 13 October 2026
The category is the most severe one covering any part of the county; the share says how much of it. "Weeks" counts the weekly maps in a row with that category or worse somewhere in it.
| County | Category this week | Share in it | In drought (D1–D4) | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Allegany County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 53.3% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Bronx County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Broome County | None | 0% | 39 weeks | |
| Cattaraugus County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 69.17% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Cayuga County | D1 Moderate Drought | 10.34% | 10.34% | 1 week |
| Chautauqua County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 97.9% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Chemung County | None | 0% | 30 weeks | |
| Chenango County | None | 0% | 47 weeks | |
| Clinton County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 91.13% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Columbia County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Cortland County | None | 0% | 5 weeks | |
| Delaware County | None | 0% | 15 weeks | |
| Dutchess County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 2.16% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Erie County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 96.03% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Essex County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Franklin County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 36.54% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Fulton County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 34.58% | 0% | 8 weeks |
| Genesee County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 61.04% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Greene County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Hamilton County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 86.72% | 0% | 8 weeks |
| Herkimer County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 95.49% | 0% | 11 weeks |
| Jefferson County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 6.75% | 0% | 1 week |
| Kings County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Lewis County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 69.98% | 0% | 11 weeks |
| Livingston County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Madison County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 61.97% | 0% | 11 weeks |
| Monroe County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 25.02% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Montgomery County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 1.37% | 0% | 8 weeks |
| Nassau County | None | 0% | 3 weeks | |
| New York County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Niagara County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 11.48% | 0% | 1 week |
| Oneida County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 11 weeks |
| Onondaga County | D1 Moderate Drought | 0.09% | 0.09% | 1 week |
| Ontario County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Orange County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Orleans County | None | 0% | 31 weeks | |
| Oswego County | D1 Moderate Drought | 66.6% | 66.6% | 1 week |
| Otsego County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 2.4% | 0% | 8 weeks |
| Putnam County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Queens County | None | 0% | 3 weeks | |
| Rensselaer County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Richmond County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Rockland County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Saratoga County | None | 0% | 22 weeks | |
| Schenectady County | None | 0% | 17 weeks | |
| Schoharie County | None | 0% | 15 weeks | |
| Schuyler County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 47.68% | 0% | 1 week |
| Seneca County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 95.87% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| St. Lawrence County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 11.2% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Steuben County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 40.68% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Suffolk County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 23.34% | 0% | at least 54 weeks |
| Sullivan County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Tioga County | None | 0% | 30 weeks | |
| Tompkins County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 0.11% | 0% | 1 week |
| Ulster County | None | 0% | 11 weeks | |
| Warren County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 39.61% | 0% | 7 weeks |
| Washington County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 63.37% | 0% | 1 week |
| Wayne County | D1 Moderate Drought | 6.2% | 6.2% | 1 week |
| Westchester County | None | 0% | 8 weeks | |
| Wyoming County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 3 weeks |
| Yates County | D0 Abnormally Dry | 100% | 0% | 7 weeks |
Natural disaster risk in New York by county · Drought in every state
The categories
| Category | Name |
|---|---|
| D0 | Abnormally Dry (not drought: going into or coming out of drought) |
| D1 | Moderate Drought |
| D2 | Severe Drought |
| D3 | Extreme Drought |
| D4 | Exceptional Drought |
What each category means on the ground is described on the Drought Monitor's classification page.
How this page reads the Drought Monitor
- The figures are the U.S. Drought Monitor's own statistics (share of area in each category), read from its data service. The categories are theirs, unchanged. This site does not make its own drought assessment.
- The Drought Monitor gives each county a share in each category. A county's category here is the most severe one covering any part of it, with the share it covers. "Weeks" counts the weekly maps in a row, newest first, on which some of the county was at that category or worse.
- A new map is released every Thursday, valid for the Tuesday before. Every figure here carries that valid date. This site reads the new week once, after the Thursday release, and keeps it.
- Counties are matched to the Drought Monitor by their five-digit FIPS code. Connecticut is shown by its nine planning regions, which replaced its eight counties in 2022; the Drought Monitor's county statistics use the same planning regions.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor, droughtmonitor.unl.edu · The official map for New York · Drought Monitor data tables · drought.gov current conditions · NOAA seasonal drought outlook
Questions
Is New York in a drought right now?
On the U.S. Drought Monitor valid 13 October 2026, 1.62% of New York is in drought (D1 to D4) and 43.16% is at least abnormally dry (D0 to D4).
Which counties in New York are in the worst drought?
This week the most severe category in New York is D1 Moderate Drought, in Cayuga County, Onondaga County, Oswego County, Wayne County.
How is a county's category chosen on this page?
The U.S. Drought Monitor gives the share of each county in each category. This page names the most severe category covering any part of the county, and always says how much of the county it covers.