PlainHazard

New Jersey drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 21 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 886 drought records in New Jersey from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 69 a year since 2000. The costliest was the September 1, 1999 drought ($70.9 million in 2025 dollars). New Jersey ranks 26th of 51 states and territories by count and 2nd of 50 per square mile.

Drought in New Jersey, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
8861996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
69average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$71Mas filed
Busiest year
2002272 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in New Jersey?

New Jersey averages about 69 drought records a year since 2000, 26th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2002 (272). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New Jersey records 1205 drought records since 1996, 2nd of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in New Jersey have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Mercer County leads New Jersey: 44 days with a drought record since 1996, 196.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Monmouth County has the most drought records (87 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Mercer County 196.0 (44)
  2. Camden County 180.7 (40)
  3. Cape May County 151.1 (76)
  4. Somerset County 139.1 (42)
  5. Middlesex County 139.0 (53)
  6. Gloucester County 124.2 (40)
  7. Salem County 120.5 (40)
  8. Union County 107.0 (11)
  9. Warren County 101.0 (36)
  10. Hunterdon County 100.5 (43)
  11. Monmouth County 94.0 (87)
  12. Morris County 88.9 (41)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in New Jersey?

New Jersey's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (134 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 46 · Feb 40 · Mar 20 · Apr 46 · May 66 · Jun 74 · Jul 86 · Aug 83 · Sep 133 · Oct 134 · Nov 82 · Dec 76 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in New Jersey

New Jersey: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-09-01 DroughtGloucester County · forecast zone Gloucester One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $71M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in New Jersey?

New Jersey's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: New Jersey and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNew JerseyUnited StatesNew Jersey's share
1996-993385,6006.0%
2000s46118,5712.5%
2010s8731,4410.3%
2020-26030,1470

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in New Jersey

The 2 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-09-01 DroughtWarren County · forecast zone Warren 0 0 $71M
1999-09-01 DroughtGloucester County · forecast zone Gloucester 0 0 $71M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in New Jersey

FEMA has declared 2 disasters in New Jersey for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on October 19, 1980.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1980-10-19EM-3083Water Shortage21
1965-08-18DR-205Water Shortage21

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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