Drought in Cowley County, KS: 3.8 years in 10 since 2000

3.8 years in 10

Cowley County, KS: 10 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 7
2. 9
3. 9
4. 4
5. 0
6. 0
7. 36
8. 12
9. 0
10. 0
11. 2
12. 51
13. 38
14. 30
15. 37
16. 15
17. 0
18. 1
19. 33
20. 0
21. 1
22. 0
23. 33
24. 51
25. 15
26. 5

20002025

Drought years: 2006 (36 wk), 2011 (51 wk), 2012 (38 wk), 2013 (30 wk), 2014 (37 wk), 2015 (15 wk), 2018 (33 wk), 2022 (33 wk), 2023 (51 wk) and 2024 (15 wk). Not a single drought week in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2019 and 2021.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Mar peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Against the rest of KS

65th most drought-prone of 105 KS counties; the KS middle is 4.2 in 10. Closest on the list: Rice County (3.8 in 10) and Allen County (3.8 in 10). Driest in KS: Morton County (6.9 in 10). Least drought: Dickinson County (2.7 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Mar (38% of weeks), then Feb (36%) and Aug (35%). Least in Jun (18%). May to September averages 27%.

1. 33 Jan
2. 36 Feb
3. 38 Mar
4. 34 Apr
5. 23 May
6. 18 Jun
7. 28 Jul
8. 35 Aug
9. 32 Sep
10. 31 Oct
11. 21 Nov
12. 22 Dec

The worst year: 2023

2023: 51 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 29.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 15.4% at D2, 8.6% at D3, 63 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 74 weeks, Jul 26, 2022 to Dec 19, 2023.

Lately

Last drought year: 2024, 15 weeks. 2016-2025: 4 in 10, against 3.8 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 19 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Cowley County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2023, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Cowley County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.