Drought in Boyd County, NE: 5 years in 10 since 2000

5 years in 10

Boyd County, NE: 13 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (18 wk), 2002 (26 wk), 2003 (35 wk), 2004 (21 wk), 2006 (24 wk), 2012 (28 wk), 2013 (39 wk), 2020 (14 wk), 2021 (43 wk), 2022 (52 wk), 2023 (30 wk), 2024 (13 wk) and 2025 (38 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Dec peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of NE

52nd most drought-prone of 93 NE counties; the NE middle is 5 in 10. Closest on the list: Brown County (5 in 10) and Johnson County (5 in 10). Driest in NE: Banner County (6.5 in 10). Least drought: Cuming County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Dec (36% of weeks), then Nov (34%) and Oct (33%). Least in Jun (24%). May to September averages 28%.

32 Jan
33 Feb
29 Mar
32 Apr
28 May
24 Jun
31 Jul
30 Aug
28 Sep
33 Oct
34 Nov
36 Dec

The worst year: 2022

2022: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 30.7% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 16.4% at D2, 5.9% at D3, 32 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 115 weeks, May 18, 2021 to Jul 25, 2023.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 38 weeks. 2016-2025: 6 in 10, against 4.4 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 35 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.