The rainfall pattern showing dry and wet years are computed for each agro- climatic zone in the dry region in Karnataka state based on annual scales from 1979 to 2019. The occurrence of drought was recorded under the categories of extreme, severe and medium drought at different agro-climatic zones level. Visual interpretation of RAI of all zones reveal same pattern but the magnitude varied over the time. An extreme drought of more than -3 and -2 magnitude was recorded in all zones. Extreme drought condition was experienced during the year 2018 in the North eastern dry zone, 2003 in the northern dry zone, 1995 in the central dry zone , 2002 in the eastern dry zone and 2003 in the southern dry zone. Further, the study revealed that, at least 3 to 5 drought events under the extreme drought category. The occurrence of at least 4 to 6 drought events under the severe drought category was observed across all five zones in dry region in the state. Assessment of dry years help in studying the exposure component of vulnerability in the area to drought and necessary adaptative strategies to be followed by farmers in the zone.