Drought in Clay County, IL: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

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

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

20002025

Drought years: 2000 (18 wk), 2012 (15 wk) and 2025 (17 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 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 Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of IL

87th most drought-prone of 102 IL counties; the IL middle is 2.3 in 10. Closest on the list: Effingham County (1.2 in 10) and Crawford County (1.2 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 (16% of weeks), then Nov (13%) and Dec (11%). Least in Apr (3%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 9 Jan
2. 9 Feb
3. 5 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 5 May
6. 4 Jun
7. 9 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 11 Oct
11. 13 Nov
12. 11 Dec

The worst year: 2000

2000: 18 weeks in drought, peaking at D1 moderate. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 8.8% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.1% at D2, 0.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 27 weeks, Sep 9, 2025 to Mar 10, 2026.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 17 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 16 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Clay County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2000, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Clay County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.