Drought in Cuyahoga County, OH: 0.4 years in 10 since 2000

0.4 years in 10

Cuyahoga County, OH: 1 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

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

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023.

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 Oct turns dry.

Against the rest of OH

68th most drought-prone of 88 OH counties; the OH middle is 0.8 in 10. Closest on the list: Summit County (0.4 in 10) and Portage County (0.4 in 10). Driest in OH: Williams County (2.7 in 10). Least drought: Ashtabula County (0 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Oct (16% of weeks), then Jul (15%) and Sep (13%). Least in Feb (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 0 Jan
2. 0 Feb
3. 1 Mar
4. 3 Apr
5. 2 May
6. 1 Jun
7. 15 Jul
8. 12 Aug
9. 13 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 2 Nov
12. 2 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 14 weeks in drought, peaking at D2 severe. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 5.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 0.1% at D2, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 10 weeks, Jul 3, 2012 to Sep 4, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2002, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 0 in 10, against 0.6 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Cuyahoga County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Cuyahoga County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.