Drought in Bartholomew County, IN: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Bartholomew County, IN: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (16 wk), 2012 (17 wk) and 2023 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025.

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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

69th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Shelby County (1.2 in 10) and Wayne County (1.2 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (17% of weeks), then Oct (16%) and Nov (13%). Least in Apr (0%). May to September averages 8%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 3 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 0 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 6 Jul
8. 8 Aug
9. 17 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 7 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, 0.3% at D3, 1 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 18 weeks, Sep 26, 2023 to Jan 23, 2024.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

Bartholomew County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Bartholomew County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.