Drought in Charlevoix County, MI: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Charlevoix County, MI: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (16 wk), 2007 (25 wk) and 2010 (20 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

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 Aug turns dry.

Against the rest of MI

64th most drought-prone of 83 MI counties; the MI middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Benzie County (1.2 in 10) and Ogemaw County (1.2 in 10). Driest in MI: Gogebic County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Newaygo County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (15% of weeks), then Apr (14%) and Jul (11%). Least in Feb (4%). May to September averages 11%.

1. 4 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 4 Mar
4. 14 Apr
5. 8 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 11 Jul
8. 15 Aug
9. 10 Sep
10. 8 Oct
11. 7 Nov
12. 7 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 25 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.4% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.9% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 26 weeks, Jul 10, 2007 to Jan 1, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2010, 20 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 1.9 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

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