Pinellas County has spent 43 weeks in drought this year, tied for Florida's most

The Tampa Bay area doesn't need the rest of 2026 to know this year's drought has outlasted last year's. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties have each already spent more weeks in drought than they did in all of 2025, with November and December still to come.

Hillsborough County has been in drought for 43 weeks since Jan. 1, according to U.S. Drought Monitor maps through Oct. 22. That is 8 weeks more than its total for all of 2025, which came to 35 weeks.

Across the bay, Pinellas County matches Hillsborough at 43 weeks, up from 38 weeks last year.

Pasco County to the north is at 43 weeks. That puts it 5 weeks past its 2025 total of 38 weeks.

Hernando County, at the region's northern edge, has the smallest count and the smallest jump. It has logged 41 weeks in drought this year, compared with 37 weeks in all of 2025, a gain of 4 weeks.

A crowded top of the list

Measured by weeks in drought this year, Hillsborough ranks first among Florida counties. Pinellas and Pasco share that spot.

So do many other counties. In all, 35 counties are tied at the highest count, so the top rank says as much about how widespread drought has been across Florida as it does about the bay.

Hernando falls just outside that group. It ranks 36th, trailing its neighbors by a short margin.

A short drive east, Orange County, home to Orlando, shows the same pattern. It has logged 38 weeks in drought so far in 2026, up from 18 weeks in all of 2025. That is a bigger jump than any bay county's, yet Orange still sits below Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco for the year.

Severe drought and brush fires

A local television report said the latest update of the federal drought map showed most of the region officially in severe drought (FOX 13 Tampa Bay). A prolonged period of low rainfall had caused it (FOX 13 Tampa Bay).

Wildfire crews were busy, too. The Florida Forest Service's Withlacoochee Forestry Center said it had already responded to wildfires across the region in 2026 (FOX 13 Tampa Bay), and forestry officials answered calls in Hernando and Citrus counties (FOX 13 Tampa Bay).

Lack of rain wasn't the only factor. Frost had also dried out grass, plants and underbrush (FOX 13 Tampa Bay).

Those counts matter for anyone watching for water restrictions or keeping an eye on the woods and fields behind the backyard. No county in Florida has logged more drought weeks this year than Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco.

The calendar doesn't help. Going short on rain in winter is normal for the region's dry season (FOX 13 Tampa Bay), and each of these counties is headed into it carrying a drought count that already tops all of last year's.

About the data

We counted the weeks each Florida county appeared in moderate drought or worse on the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map, counting a week if any part of the county was in drought. We compared each county's total from Jan. 1 through Oct. 22, 2026, with its full-year 2025 total and ranked every Florida county by its 2026 count, with tied counties sharing a rank. Orange County was included as a benchmark for a nearby Florida metro.

• The 2026 counts cover only Jan. 1 through Oct. 22, so they compare a partial year with all of 2025 and can only grow.
• A county counts as in drought for a week if any part of it is in drought, so the figures don't show how much of a county was dry or how severe conditions were.
• With so many counties tied at the top, the rankings do little to separate the driest counties from one another.

Weeks in drought: the number of weekly U.S. Drought Monitor maps on which at least part of a county was in moderate drought or a more severe category. Moderate drought: the lowest of the U.S. Drought Monitor's drought categories; severe, extreme and exceptional drought rank above it.

Sources

• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USDA, NOAA and NASA): U.S. Drought Monitor: weeks in D1 (moderate drought) or worse, 12057, 12103, 12101, 12053 (Weekly maps from 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-22), latest period 2026-10-20; retrieved Oct. 22, 2026. Data
• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USDA, NOAA and NASA): U.S. Drought Monitor: weeks in D1 (moderate drought) or worse, 12057, 12103, 12101, 12053 (Weekly maps from 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31), latest period 2025-12-30; retrieved Oct. 22, 2026. Data
• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USDA, NOAA and NASA): U.S. Drought Monitor: weeks in D1 (moderate drought) or worse, FL (Weekly maps from 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-22), latest period 2026-10-13; retrieved Oct. 22, 2026. Data
• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USDA, NOAA and NASA): U.S. Drought Monitor: weeks in D1 (moderate drought) or worse, 12057, 12103, 12101, 12053, 12095, 12031, 37119, 48029, 08031, 12086 (Weekly maps from 2026-01-01 to 2026-10-22), latest period 2026-10-20; retrieved Oct. 22, 2026. Data
• U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USDA, NOAA and NASA): U.S. Drought Monitor: weeks in D1 (moderate drought) or worse, 12057, 12103, 12101, 12053, 12095, 12031, 37119, 48029, 08031, 12086 (Weekly maps from 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31), latest period 2025-12-30; retrieved Oct. 22, 2026. Data