Drought in Champaign County, IL: 1.5 years in 10 since 2000

1.5 years in 10

Champaign County, IL: 4 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (22 wk), 2012 (14 wk), 2013 (16 wk) and 2025 (31 wk). Not a single drought week in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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 IL

68th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Montgomery County (1.9 in 10) and Monroe County (1.5 in 10). Driest in IL: Hancock County (3.8 in 10). Least drought: Edwards County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (18% of weeks), then Jul (18%) and Aug (17%). Least in Apr (6%). May to September averages 14%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 14 Feb
3. 14 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 18 Jul
8. 17 Aug
9. 18 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 12 Nov
12. 11 Dec

The worst year: 2025

2025: 31 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 12.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4% at D2, 1.9% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 39 weeks, Jul 8, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 31 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 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

Champaign County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2025, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Champaign County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.