Drought in Custer County, SD: 6.5 years in 10 since 2000

6.5 years in 10

Custer County, SD: 17 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. More drought-prone than most US counties.

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (43 wk), 2003 (44 wk), 2004 (39 wk), 2005 (44 wk), 2006 (41 wk), 2007 (52 wk), 2008 (21 wk), 2012 (30 wk), 2013 (27 wk), 2016 (28 wk), 2017 (29 wk), 2020 (29 wk), 2021 (32 wk), 2022 (50 wk), 2023 (19 wk), 2024 (27 wk) and 2025 (29 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2019.

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 Oct peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

Drought has been more common in 2016-2025 (8 years in 10) than in 2000-2015 (5.6 in 10).

Against the rest of SD

4th most drought-prone of 66 SD counties; the SD middle is 3.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Pennington County (6.5 in 10) and Oglala Lakota County (6.5 in 10). Driest in SD: Jackson County (6.9 in 10). Least drought: Clark County (2.3 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (53% of weeks), then Feb (51%) and Sep (51%). Least in Jun (34%). May to September averages 43%.

47 Jan
51 Feb
49 Mar
49 Apr
36 May
34 Jun
46 Jul
46 Aug
51 Sep
53 Oct
44 Nov
46 Dec

The worst year: 2007

2007: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 46% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 20.3% at D2, 8.6% at D3, 43 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 98 weeks, Jul 11, 2006 to May 20, 2008.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 29 weeks. 2016-2025: 8 in 10, against 5.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, drier lately. So far in 2026: 41 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.