Drought in Benzie County, MI: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (17 wk), 2007 (25 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 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

63rd most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Otsego County (1.2 in 10) and Charlevoix County (1.2 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 (11% of weeks), then Mar (10%) and Oct (10%). Least in Apr (5%). May to September averages 8%.

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

The worst year: 2007

2007: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Jul 10, 2007 to Jan 8, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 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

Benzie County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2007, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Benzie County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.