Drought in Clark County, WI: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Clark County, WI: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 1
2. 0
3. 0
4. 21
5. 12
6. 6
7. 4
8. 11
9. 16
10. 40
11. 4
12. 0
13. 17
14. 26
15. 0
16. 2
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 0
22. 2
23. 0
24. 10
25. 5
26. 7

20002025

Drought years: 2003 (21 wk), 2008 (16 wk), 2009 (40 wk), 2012 (17 wk) and 2013 (26 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2002, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

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 WI

52nd most drought-prone of 72 WI counties; the WI middle is 2.7 in 10. Closest on the list: Washington County (2.3 in 10) and Marathon County (1.9 in 10). Driest in WI: Barron County (4.6 in 10). Least drought: Fond du Lac County (0.8 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (25% of weeks), then Oct (20%) and Aug (18%). Least in Apr (6%). May to September averages 15%.

1. 12 Jan
2. 12 Feb
3. 16 Mar
4. 6 Apr
5. 7 May
6. 10 Jun
7. 14 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 25 Sep
10. 20 Oct
11. 14 Nov
12. 17 Dec

The worst year: 2009

2009: 40 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 14.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.2% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 56 weeks, Sep 16, 2008 to Oct 6, 2009.

Lately

Last drought year: 2013, 26 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, wetter lately. So far in 2026: 14 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Clark County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its last ten years ran wetter than the ten before; what that does and does not mean. How each of Clark County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.