Drought in Boone County, IN: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (20 wk), 2011 (14 wk), 2012 (16 wk), 2023 (19 wk) and 2025 (19 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

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 Dec turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

21st most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Lake County (1.9 in 10) and Newton County (1.9 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 Dec (19% of weeks), then Nov (19%) and Oct (16%). Least in May (4%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 13 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 8 Mar
4. 5 Apr
5. 4 May
6. 7 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 9 Aug
9. 12 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 19 Nov
12. 19 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 20 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 11.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.6% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Sep 16, 2025 to Mar 17, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 19 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 13 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Boone 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 Boone County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.