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

1.5 years in 10

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

1. 6
2. 1
3. 15
4. 22
5. 7
6. 0
7. 0
8. 1
9. 0
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 4
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 6
18. 0
19. 0
20. 2
21. 0
22. 12
23. 10
24. 13
25. 12
26. 42

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (15 wk), 2003 (22 wk), 2023 (13 wk) and 2025 (42 wk). Not a single drought week in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

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

33rd most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Midland County (1.5 in 10) and Marquette 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 (14% of weeks), then Apr (13%) and Sep (12%). Least in Mar (7%). May to September averages 12%.

1. 11 Jan
2. 10 Feb
3. 7 Mar
4. 13 Apr
5. 10 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 12 Oct
11. 11 Nov
12. 10 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 42 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 54 weeks, Oct 15, 2024 to Oct 21, 2025.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 42 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

Bay County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Bay County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.