Drought in Allen County, OH: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (16 wk), 2002 (13 wk), 2024 (19 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

13th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Sandusky County (1.5 in 10) and Jackson County (1.5 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (15% of weeks), then Nov (14%) and Dec (14%). Least in May (0%). May to September averages 5%.

1. 10 Jan
2. 8 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 0 May
6. 2 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 5 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 15 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 14 Dec

The worst year: 2024

2024: 19 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.3% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 30 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Allen County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2024, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Allen County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.