Drought in Berrien County, MI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Berrien County, MI: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 19
2. 0
3. 9
4. 20
5. 1
6. 31
7. 9
8. 4
9. 1
10. 0
11. 0
12. 0
13. 7
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 14
23. 0
24. 7
25. 12
26. 15

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (19 wk), 2003 (20 wk), 2005 (31 wk), 2021 (14 wk) and 2025 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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

18th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Huron County (1.9 in 10) and Lenawee County (1.9 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 (15% of weeks), then Feb (15%) and Jan (13%). Least in Aug (7%). May to September averages 10%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 15 Feb
3. 11 Mar
4. 11 Apr
5. 11 May
6. 9 Jun
7. 15 Jul
8. 7 Aug
9. 8 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 9 Nov
12. 11 Dec

The worst year: 2005

2005: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 24 weeks, Sep 6, 2005 to Feb 14, 2006.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Berrien County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2005, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Berrien County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.