PlainHazard

New York drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 56 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 377 drought records in New York from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 38 a year since 2000. The costliest was the September 1, 1999 drought ($88.6 million in 2025 dollars). New York ranks 37th of 51 states and territories by count and 41st of 50 per square mile.

Drought in New York, 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
3771996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
38average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$89Mas filed
Busiest year
2002120 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 York?

New York averages about 38 drought records a year since 2000, 37th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2002 (120). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New York records 80 drought records since 1996, 41st 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
  11. 41. New York 80

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 York have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Queens County leads New York: 8 days with a drought record since 1996, 73.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Suffolk County has the most drought records (32 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. Queens County 73.6 (8)
  2. Rockland County 57.6 (20)
  3. Putnam County 43.4 (10)
  4. Nassau County 28.1 (8)
  5. Westchester County 23.2 (10)
  6. Schuyler County 21.3 (7)
  7. Yates County 17.7 (6)
  8. Chemung County 17.2 (7)
  9. Tompkins County 14.7 (7)
  10. Tioga County 13.5 (7)
  11. Orleans County 12.8 (5)
  12. Seneca County 12.4 (4)

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 York?

New York's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (68 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 15 · Feb 0 · Mar 0 · Apr 57 · May 16 · Jun 15 · Jul 38 · Aug 68 · Sep 66 · Oct 46 · Nov 30 · Dec 26 (records).

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

The costliest drought records in New York

New York: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-09-01 DroughtOneida County · forecast zone Northern Oneida 0 0 $89M
1997-08-01 DroughtSullivan County · forecast zone Sullivan 0 0 $368K

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 York?

New York'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 York and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNew YorkUnited StatesNew York's share
1996-99775,6001.4%
2000s15318,5710.8%
2010s10531,4410.3%
2020-264230,1470.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in New York

The 7 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2025-11-01 DroughtWashington County · forecast zone Northern Washington 0 0 –
2025-10-01 DroughtWashington County · forecast zone Northern Washington 0 0 –
2025-10-01 DroughtWashington County · forecast zone Southern Washington 0 0 –
2025-09-23 DroughtWashington County · forecast zone Southern Washington 0 0 –
2025-09-23 DroughtWashington County · forecast zone Northern Washington 0 0 –
1999-09-01 DroughtOneida County · forecast zone Northern Oneida 0 0 $89M
1997-08-01 DroughtSullivan County · forecast zone Sullivan 0 0 $368K

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 York

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in New York 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 August 18, 1965.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1965-08-18DR-204Water Shortage14

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

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