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

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (24 wk), 2003 (13 wk) and 2025 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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 Mar turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

50th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Perry County (1.5 in 10) and Jasper 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 Mar (17% of weeks), then Feb (17%) and Jul (16%). Least in Aug (5%). May to September averages 10%.

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

The worst year: 2000

2000: 24 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Jan 4, 2000 to Jun 13, 2000.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

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