Drought in Boone County, KY: 0.8 years in 10 since 2000

0.8 years in 10

Boone County, KY: 2 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (21 wk) and 2012 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of KY

109th most drought-prone of 120 KY counties; the KY middle is 1.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Carroll County (0.8 in 10) and Gallatin County (0.8 in 10). Driest in KY: Calloway County (2.3 in 10). Least drought: Grant County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (20% of weeks), then Oct (16%) and Aug (13%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 3 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 6 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 13 Aug
9. 20 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 6 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 21 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 1.9% at D2, 0.6% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 21 weeks, Jun 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2007.

Lately

Last drought year: 2012, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 1 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, 2007, 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.