Drought in Cape Girardeau County, MO: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000
1.5 years in 10
Cape Girardeau County, MO: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.
- 8
- 13
- 0
- 1
- 0
- 8
- 0
- 10
- 0
- 0
- 4
- 0
- 25
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 1
- 8
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 0
- 14
- 12
- 16
- 7
20002025
Drought years: 2001 (13 wk), 2012 (25 wk), 2022 (14 wk) and 2024 (16 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 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 Jun turns dry.
Against the rest of MO
114th most drought-prone of 115 MO counties; the MO middle is 3.1 in 10. Closest on the list: Sainte Genevieve County (1.5 in 10) and Perry County (1.2 in 10). Driest in MO: Jasper County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Perry County (1.2 in 10).
When in the year it hits
Most often in Jun (17% of weeks), then Oct (16%) and Sep (16%). Least in Feb (4%). May to September averages 14%.
- 6 Jan
- 4 Feb
- 7 Mar
- 9 Apr
- 14 May
- 17 Jun
- 13 Jul
- 8 Aug
- 16 Sep
- 16 Oct
- 12 Nov
- 10 Dec
The worst year: 2012
2012: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 10.9% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 3.2% at D2, 0.8% at D3, 6 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 25 weeks, May 22, 2012 to Nov 6, 2012.
Lately
Last drought year: 2024, 16 weeks. 2016-2025: 2 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 26 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.
Further reading
Cape Girardeau County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Cape Girardeau County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.