Drought in Allegan County, MI: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Allegan County, MI: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 12
2. 0
3. 9
4. 17
5. 0
6. 24
7. 1
8. 6
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 7
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 1
22. 14
23. 0
24. 5
25. 10
26. 24

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (17 wk), 2005 (24 wk), 2021 (14 wk) and 2025 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Jul turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

43rd most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Presque Isle County (1.5 in 10) and Washtenaw County (1.5 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jul (16% of weeks), then Mar (11%) and Oct (11%). Least in May (7%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 7 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 8 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 16 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 9 Sep
10. 11 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 8 Dec

The worst year: 2005

2005: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 9.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 22 weeks, Oct 29, 2024 to Mar 25, 2025.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Allegan County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Allegan County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.